NEWS RELEASE 12/06/12

Private Company Council Holds Inaugural Meeting, Identifies Four Areas for Study

Norwalk, CT, December 6, 2012—At its inaugural meeting today, the Private Company Council (PCC), a new body created to improve the standard-setting process for private companies, identified four areas to research for agenda consideration. The areas involve consolidation of variable interest entities; accounting for “plain vanilla” interest rate swaps; accounting for uncertain tax positions; and recognizing and measuring, at fair value, various intangible assets (other than goodwill) acquired in business combinations.

“These four areas are often top of mind for users, preparers, and auditors of private company financial statements,” said PCC Chairman Billy M. Atkinson. “We are eager to review the research, and we look forward to discussing the issues in more detail at our next meeting in February. After we discuss these issues further, we’ll make a decision about which projects to add to the PCC agenda.”

The PCC was established in May by the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) to work with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to determine whether and when to modify U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for private companies.

During the PCC’s first meeting, FASB staff members presented to the PCC issues identified as being of concern by constituents providing written input to the Blue-Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies in 2010, and by participants in private company roundtables held in 2010 and 2011. The PCC directed the FASB staff to develop agenda research memoranda on:

The following items were also addressed during the inaugural meeting:

“We are very pleased to see the PCC off and running—tackling the critical financial reporting issues facing private companies,” said FAF President and CEO Teresa S. Polley. “This Council represents a critical milestone along our journey to improve financial reporting for private companies, and today is the first step in our journey. We are confident that the spirit of cooperation between the PCC and the FASB will carry us through and, more importantly, result in significant progress.”

All PCC meetings will be archived on the FAF website. The meeting handouts for the inaugural meeting can be found here.

For more information on the PCC, please visit the FAF website or read the Establishment of the Private Company Council Final Report.


About the Financial Accounting Foundation

The FAF is responsible for the oversight, administration, and finances of both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and its counterpart for state and local government, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. The FAF also is responsible for selecting the members of both Boards and their respective Advisory Councils.

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.