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, January 30, 2019 FASB Board Meeting
Ratification of EITF consensus.
The Board ratified the consensus reached at the January 17, 2019 EITF
meeting on the following EITF Issue. The Board directed the staff to
draft an Accounting Standards Update reflecting the consensus for vote
by written ballot.
Issue No. 18-B, "Improvements to Accounting for Episodic Television Series"
The Task Force reached a consensus to align the accounting for
production costs of episodic television series with the accounting for
production costs of films by removing the content distinction from
Subtopic 926-20, Entertainment—Films—Other Assets—Film Costs. The Task
Force also reached a consensus to allow an entity to assess a film group
for impairment and to amend the presentation and disclosure
requirements for films and episodic content. In addition, the Task Force
agreed to make conforming amendments to Subtopic 920-350,
Entertainment—Broadcasters—Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, to align its
impairment and presentation and disclosure guidance with the Task
Force's decisions. The Task Force also decided to require that an
entity reassess estimates of the use of a film and account for any
changes prospectively.
Transition and Effective Date
The Task Force reached a consensus that would require an entity to apply
the amendments in the Update resulting from this Issue on a prospective
basis and disclose the nature of and reasons for the change in
accounting principle, the transition method, and a qualitative
description of the financial statement line items affected by the
change.
The Task Force reached a consensus to require that the amendments in the
Update resulting from this Issue be effective for annual periods,
including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after
December 15, 2019, for public business entities. For all other entities,
the amendments are effective for annual periods, including interim
periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2020.
The Task Force also reached a consensus to permit early adoption in any
interim period.
Distinguishing liabilities from equity (including convertible debt). The
Board discussed (a) disclosures for convertible instruments, (b)
determining whether instruments are indexed to, and settled in, an
entity's own stock within the context of the derivative scope exception
and related disclosure, and (c) earnings per share. The meeting was
educational; no decisions were made.
Next Steps
The Board will hold a decision-making meeting on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.