A Roadmap to Distinguishing Liabilities From Equity

This Roadmap provides an overview of the guidance in ASC 480-10 as well as insights into and interpretations of how to apply it in practice.

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Acknowledgments Preface Contacts Chapter 1 — Overview Chapter 2 — Scope Chapter 3 — Contract Analysis Chapter 4 — Mandatorily Redeemable Financial Instruments Chapter 5 — Obligations to Repurchase Shares by Transferring Assets Chapter 6 — Certain Variable-Share Obligations Chapter 7 — Certain Option Combinations Chapter 8 — Presentation and Disclosure Chapter 9 — The SEC's Guidance on Temporary Equity Chapter 10 — Comparison to IFRS Standards Appendix A — Overview of Classification Requirements in ASC 480-10 Appendix B — Legacy FASB Guidance Codified in ASC 480-10 Appendix C — Sources of SEC Guidance on Temporary Equity Appendix D — Glossary of Selected Terms Appendix E — Titles of Standards and Other Literature Appendix F — Abbreviations Appendix G — Changes Made in the 2020 Edition of This Publication

This Roadmap provides an overview of the guidance in ASC 480-10 as well as insights into and interpretations of how to apply it in practice. ASC 480-10 requires (1) issuers to classify certain types of shares of stock and certain share-settled contracts as liabilities or, in some circumstances, as assets and (2) SEC registrants to classify certain types of redeemable equity instruments as temporary equity.

The 2020 edition of this Roadmap includes several new discussions as well as some modifications to previously expressed views to reflect our latest thinking and input from standard setters and regulators. Appendix G highlights all new content as well as any substantive revisions to previous content.