Tentative Board Decisions

Tentative Board decisions are provided for those interested in following the Board's deliberations. All of the reported decisions are tentative and may be changed at future Board meetings.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 FASB Board Meeting

Clarifying the scope of Subtopic 610-20 and accounting for partial sales of nonfinancial assets. The Board discussed feedback received from external reviewers on a draft of the proposed Accounting Standards Update, the comment period, and the cost-benefit analysis.

The Board directed the staff to draft a proposed Accounting Standards Update for vote by written ballot, with a comment period of 60 days.


FASB ratification of EITF tentative conclusion. The Board ratified the consensus-for-exposure reached at the March 3, 2016 Emerging Issues Task Force meeting on EITF Issue No. 16-A, "Restricted Cash." The Board directed the staff to draft a proposed Accounting Standards Update reflecting the consensus-for-exposure for vote by written ballot. The Board decided to expose the proposed Update for public comment for a period of 60 days.

Issue No. 16-A, "Restricted Cash"

The Task Force reached a consensus-for-exposure that a statement of cash flows should explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. That is, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents would be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows under the amendments in the proposed Update.

The Task Force reached a consensus-for-exposure that certain disclosures should be required to supplement the statement of cash flows. Specifically, an entity should disclose (1) the nature of the restrictions on cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents and (2) on the face of the statement of cash flows or in the notes to the financial statements, if the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents at the beginning and end of the period shown on the statement of cash flows cannot be reconciled to the amounts of similarly titled line items on the statement of financial position, the amounts and line items in which such amounts are reported within the statement of financial position.

The minutes of the March 3, 2016 EITF meeting, which will be posted to the FASB website the week of April 25, 2016, further describe the consensus-for-exposure on Issue 16-A.


Agenda prioritization. The Board discussed the results of staff research on the following four potential projects:
  1. Effects of Yieldco Dropdown Transactions on Historical Earnings per Share
  2. Employee Benefit Plans—Phase 2
  3. Revenue Recognition of Grants and Contracts by Not-for-Profit Entities
  4. Presentation of Gains and Losses from the Sale of a Business.
After considering a staff analysis of issues related to the effects of Yieldco dropdown transactions on earnings per share and the presentation of gains and losses from the sale of a business, the Board decided not to add these projects to its agenda because they did not meet the agenda criteria.

Revenue Recognition of Grants and Contracts by Not-for-Profit Entities

The Board decided to add a project to its agenda to improve and clarify existing guidance on revenue recognition of grants and contracts by not-for-profit entities. The Board directed the staff to perform additional research on the identified issues to best address stakeholder concerns.

Employee Benefit Plans—Phase 2

The Board decided to add a project to its agenda to address the lack of presentation and disclosure guidance for employee benefit plans that have investments held in master trusts. The Board will refer this project to its Emerging Issues Task Force.