FASB News

SEC Accepts 2022 Q3 Supplemental GAAP Taxonomy

FASB said the SEC accepted the 2022 Q3 Supplemental GAAP Taxonomy, which includes improvements to the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy and the SEC Reporting Taxonomy. The supplemental taxonomy, which was proposed in July, features improvements for business development companies and crypto-assets. Specifically, the 2022 Q3 Supplemental GAAP Taxonomy includes improvements for SEC Release 33–10771, “Securities Offering Reform for Closed-End Investment Companies.” The releases require that a business development company submit financial statement information using Inline XBRL. Also included are tag disclosures required by SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which covers the accounting for obligations to safeguard crypto-assets that an entity holds for platform users. The Financial Reporting Taxonomy is a list of computer-readable tags in Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) that allows companies to precisely label financial data to file financial statements electronically with the SEC. The tags allow computers to automatically search for and assemble data so those data can be readily accessed and analyzed by financial statement users.

Modernized Accounting Standards Codification Platform Launched

FASB launched a new Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) platform and online store, board trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) said on August 12. The codification is the single source of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations. All other accounting literature that is not included in the codification is not authoritative. The launch comes as the organization has been evaluating ways to improve the navigability of the codification of U.S. accounting rules in response to complaints that the literature is challenging to work with. FASB has heard from stakeholders that, after technical rulemaking topics, this issue should be a top priority. The newly modernized codification maintains the same content and functionality of both the Basic View and the Professional View of the new ASC, but they are better streamlined and user friendly, according to the announcement. The Basic View is still free and can be accessed without an account or logging in. Features include topically organized access to all authoritative nongovernmental U.S. GAAP, including relevant SEC content; utility to identify the location of original standards.

GASB News

Extra Push to Garner Comments on Proposal about Government Risks

The GASB has published two videos that press for public feedback about a June proposal aimed at shedding light about conditions that could impact a government’s ability to provide services or meet its financial obligations. “[We are] interested in hearing whether you think the disclosure criteria would be suitable for bringing about beneficial risk disclosures,” GASB Vice Chair Jeffrey Previdi said in one video. “Will the proposed disclosures about the likelihood of the event occurring be the most effective prompting essential disclosures? Will the proposed content of the disclosures be valuable to users in making their decisions or assessment?” If finalized, GASB Exposure Draft (ED) 3-41, “Certain Risk Disclosures,” would require state and local governments to indicate their current vulnerabilities due to certain concentrations that limit their ability to acquire resources or control spending. The board said it introduced a new electronic format for the accounting profession to easily provide input about this and other proposals. Comments are due by September 30.