Facts about FASB

How Topics are Added to the FASB's Technical Agenda

The FASB is alert to trends in financial reporting through observation of published reports, liaison with interested organizations and discussions with the EITF. In addition, the staff receives many technical inquiries which may provide evidence that a particular topic, or aspect of an existing pronouncement, has become a problem. The FASB also is alert to changes in the financial reporting environment that may be brought about by new legislation or regulatory decisions.

The Board turns to many other organizations and groups for advice and information on various matters, including its agenda. Among the groups with which liaison is maintained are the Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) and the Auditing Standards Board of the AICPA, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and the appropriate committees of such organizations as the CFA Institute, Financial Executives International (FEI), and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). As part of the agenda process, the Board may make available for public comment agenda proposals that concisely describe the scope of potential projects. The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) regularly reviews the Board’s agenda priorities and consults on all major projects added to the technical agenda. The FASB's User Advisory Council and Small Business Advisory Committee also serve as resources to the Board both in formulating the FASB technical agenda and in advising on specific agenda projects.

After receiving input from the constituency, the Board must make its own decisions regarding its technical agenda. To aid in the decision-making process, the Board has developed a list of factors that it refers to in evaluating proposed topics.

Those factors include consideration of:

• Pervasiveness of the issue–the extent to which an issue is troublesome to users, preparers, auditors or others; the extent to which there is diversity of practice; and the likely duration of the issue (i.e., whether transitory or likely to persist);

• Alternative solutions–the extent to which one or more alternative solutions that will improve financial reporting in terms of relevance, reliability and comparability are likely to be developed;

• Technical feasibility–the extent to which a technically sound solution can be developed or whether the project under consideration should await completion of other projects;

• Practical consequences–the extent to which an improved accounting solution is likely to be acceptable generally, and the extent to which addressing a particular subject (or not addressing it) might cause others to act, e.g., the SEC or Congress;

• Convergence possibilities–the extent to which there is an opportunity to eliminate significant differences in standards or practices between the U.S. and other countries with a resulting improvement in the quality of U.S. standards; the extent to which it is likely that a common solution can be reached; and the extent to which any significant impediments to convergence can be identified;

• Cooperative opportunities–the extent to which there is international support by one or more other standard setters for undertaking the project jointly or through other cooperative means with the FASB; and

• Resources–the extent to which there are adequate resources and expertise available from the FASB, the IASB or another standard setter to complete the project; and whether the FASB can leverage off the resources of another standard setter in addressing the issue (and perhaps thereby add the project at a relatively low incremental cost).

It is not possible to evaluate the above factors in precisely the same way and to the same extent in every instance, but identification of factors to be considered helps to bring about consistent decisions regarding the Board’s technical agenda.

Accessibility of Meetings
The core of the Board’s due process is open decision-making meetings and exposure of proposed standards for public comment. All technical decisions are made in meetings (generally held at the FASB's offices) that are open to public observation, although observers do not participate in the discussions. A live broadcast of such meetings is available free of charge on the FASB website. Each meeting broadcast is also archived and available on the FASB website for one week following the meeting. Each public meeting is announced in advance through the FASB Action Alert. Decisions reached are also published in Action Alert.

The staff presents written material, including analysis and recommendations, to the Board members in advance as the basis for discussion in a Board meeting. The written material is the result of extensive research by the staff, including a detailed review and analysis of all of the significant alternative views for each issue to be discussed at the meeting. The meeting format calls for oral presentation of a summary of the written materials by the staff, followed by Board discussion of each issue presented and questioning of the staff on the points raised. The Board may reach conclusions on one or more of the issues presented. Any conclusions reached are tentative and may be changed at future Board meetings.

Public Exposure of Standards
Each FASB Statement or Interpretation is issued in draft form (Exposure Draft) for public comment. When the Board has reached conclusions on the issues, it directs the staff to prepare a proposed Exposure Draft for consideration by the Board. After further discussion and revisions, Board members vote by written ballot to issue the Exposure Draft. A majority vote of the Board is required to approve a document for issuance as an Exposure Draft. Alternative views, if any, are explained in the document and posted on the FASB website.

The Exposure Draft sets forth the proposed standards of financial accounting and reporting, the proposed effective date and method of transition, background information, and an explanation of the basis for the Board’s conclusions.

At the end of the exposure period, which is determined at the discretion of the Board but should never be less than 30 days, all comment letters and position papers are analyzed by the staff. This is a search for new information and persuasive arguments regarding the issues; it is not intended to be simply a "nose count" of how many support or oppose a given point of view. In addition to studying this analysis, Board members review the comment letters to help them in reaching conclusions.

Further Deliberation of the Board
After the comments have been analyzed and studied, the Board redeliberates the issues. As in earlier stages of the process, all Board meetings are open to public observation. The Board considers comments received on the Exposure Draft and often incorporates suggested changes in the final document. If substantial modifications appear to be necessary, the Board may decide to issue a revised Exposure Draft for additional public comment. When the Board is satisfied that all reasonable alternatives have been considered adequately, the staff is directed to prepare a draft of a final document for consideration by the Board. A vote is taken on the final document, again by written ballot. A simple majority of four votes is required for adoption of a pronouncement.

Statements of Financial Accounting Standards
The final product of most technical projects is a Statement of Financial Accounting Standards. Like the Exposure Draft, the Statement sets forth the actual standards, the effective date and method of transition, background information, a brief summary of research done on the project, and the basis for the Board’s conclusions, including the reasons for rejecting significant alternative solutions. It also identifies members of the Board voting for and against its issuance and includes reasons for any dissents.

Additional Due Process
For major projects, the Board generally goes significantly beyond the core due process described above. Soon after a major project is placed on the Board’s technical agenda, a resource group usually is formed, including preparers, auditors, and users of financial information who are knowledgeable about the subject matter. Experts from other disciplines also may be included. Care is taken to ensure that various points of view on the issues involved are represented.

The resource group provides information and practical insights from constituents' perspectives on FASB agenda projects. The FASB staff seeks information from resource group members as needed throughout the life of a project, for example, as it initially identifies issues to be addressed and as it issues and develops its analysis of possible alternative approaches. Resource group members also are asked to perform external review of drafts of Exposure Drafts and final Statements.

During development of a standard, usually prior to issuance of an Exposure Draft, the Board may choose to conduct field visits for the purpose of assessing the costs and benefits or operationality of the proposed standard.

During the comment period, the Board also may conduct field tests of the provisions of the Exposure Draft, if necessary.

After a discussion document or an Exposure Draft is issued for public comment, the Board often holds public roundtable meetings with interested constituents. Those meetings provide an opportunity for the Board and staff to ask questions about information and viewpoints offered by constituents who participated in the comment process. Observers are welcome at all roundtable meetings.

Statements of Concepts
In addition to Statements of Financial Accounting Standards, the FASB also issues Statements of Concepts. Statements of Concepts do not establish new standards or require any change in the application of existing accounting principles; instead, they are intended to provide the Board and constituents with a foundation for setting standards and concepts useful as tools for solving problems. The framework defined in the Statements of Concepts helps the Board identify the right questions to ask in structuring technical projects and contributes to a consistent approach over time. Because of their long-range importance, Statements of Concepts are developed under the same extensive due process the FASB follows in developing Statements of Financial Accounting Standards on major topics.

Other Documents
In addition to broad issues of financial accounting and reporting, the Board considers narrower issues related to implementation of existing standards and other problems arising in practice. Depending on their nature, application and implementation problems may be dealt with by the Board in Statements or Interpretations or by the staff in FASB Staff Positions. All of those are subject to discussion at public Board meetings and to exposure for comment.

Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF)
The EITF was formed in 1984 in response to the recommendations of the FASB’s task force on timely financial reporting guidance and an FASB Invitation to Comment on those recommendations. EITF members are drawn primarily from public accounting firms but also include representatives of large companies and users of financial statements. The Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission attends EITF meetings regularly as an observer with the privilege of the floor. Lawrence W. Smith, FASB Director, Technical Application and Implementation Activities, also serves as Chairman of the EITF.

Composition of the EITF is designed to include persons in a position to be aware of emerging issues before they become widespread and before divergent practices regarding them become entrenched. Therefore, if the group can reach a consensus on an issue, usually that consensus is taken by the FASB as an indication that no Board action is needed. A consensus is defined as an agreement, provided that no more than three of the fourteen voting members object. Consensus positions of the EITF are ratified by the FASB and are considered part of GAAP. If consensus is not possible, it may be an indication that action by the FASB is necessary.

The EITF meets at least four times a year. Meetings are open to the public and, generally, are attended by substantial numbers of observers; meetings are also broadcast on the FASB website. Because interest in the EITF is high, the FASB has separate subscription plans for keeping up-to-date on the issues. EITF materials are available free of charge on the FASB website.

Availability of Publications
To encourage public comment, Exposure Drafts and other discussion documents are distributed primarily through the FASB website.

Statements of Standards, Statements of Concepts, and Interpretations also are distributed broadly when published through FASB subscription plans and may be purchased separately by placing an order at the FASB website. Those documents are also available free of charge on the FASB website.

The FASB strives to keep the public informed of developments on its projects through a monthly newsletter, The FASB Report, and a weekly notice, Action Alert, which provides notice of upcoming Board meetings and their agendas with brief summaries of actions taken at previous meetings. Action Alert is available by e-mail subscription at the FASB website.

FASB Website
The FASB website includes general information about the Board and its activities, information on upcoming public meetings, announcements of Board actions, summaries and status of all active technical agenda projects, minutes of Board meetings, comment letters, the technical plan for FASB projects, and information about the Financial Accounting Foundation, as well as information on how to order publications online, by phone or mail.

The website can be accessed at www.fasb.org.

The Public Record
Transcripts of public hearings, letters of comment and position papers, research reports and other relevant materials on projects leading to issuance of pronouncements become part of the Board’s public record. The public records on all projects are available for inspection in the public reference room at FASB offices in Norwalk, Connecticut. Copies of public records also may be purchased at prices that vary according to the volume of material that has to be copied by accessing the FASB website at www.fasb.org or by contacting Records Retention at (203) 847-0700, ext. 270, for more information.

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