MEDIA ADVISORY 08/04/11

Financial Accounting Standards Board Announces Public Roundtable Meetings to Solicit Input on Private Company Accounting and Reporting Issues

Norwalk, CT, August 4, 2011—The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has announced that it will again host two public roundtable meetings this fall to discuss issues relating to existing private company accounting and reporting standards.

"The Board´s purpose in holding these public roundtables is to engage in a constructive dialogue about private company accounting and reporting issues on existing GAAP with a wide variety of stakeholders, including private companies, their CPA practitioners, and users of private company financial statements," states FASB Chairman Leslie F. Seidman. "The Board and staff found that the two roundtables we held last fall were valuable forums for hearing first hand from private company constituents about their concerns with existing GAAP. Those roundtables provided the impetus for our efforts to develop a differential reporting framework for private companies and our project to simplify goodwill impairment assessments."

Topics to be discussed at this year´s roundtables are expected to include, but will not be limited to, accounting and disclosure requirements relating to variable interest entities, interest rate swaps, and level 3 fair value measurements.

The roundtables are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
FASB Public Roundtable Meeting on Private Company Accounting and Reporting Issues
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Renaissance Chicago O´Hare Suites Hotel, 8500 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60631

Monday, October 17, 2011
FASB Public Roundtable Meeting on Private Company Accounting and Reporting Issues
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time)
Location: San Francisco, CA (Specific location to be announced)

The Board is seeking private company stakeholders to participate in this roundtable. Any individual or organization representing those stakeholders desiring to participate should complete and submit an application form on or before September 13, 2011. Those interested in observing the roundtables must preregister for specific sessions. Due to seating limitations, no more than three observers from the same organization may attend. The sessions will be recorded for playback from FASB´s webcast archive.


About the Financial Accounting Standards Board

Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors, and others rely on credible, transparent, and comparable financial information. For more information about the FASB, visit our website at www.fasb.org.