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, May 24, 2017 FASB Board Meeting
Agenda consultation: reporting performance and cash flows. The
Board discussed the staff research on the subtopics on reporting
performance and cash flows in Chapter 4 of the August 2016 Invitation to Comment, Agenda Consultation. The discussion was educational; no decisions were made.
The Board discussed (1) potential new projects and (2) directed the
staff to perform additional research on the following matters:
Segment Reporting
The Board discussed potential improvements to the aggregation criteria
and the segment disclosure requirements. The Board asked the staff to
consult with preparers to understand their current segment reporting
processes and to understand the impact of narrow-scope improvements to
the aggregation criteria and the segment disclosure requirements.
The Board directed the staff to share the results of their consultations
and prepare a separate agenda request for a potential new project on
segment reporting.
Performance Statement—Structure
The Board discussed whether the income statement should be a structured
statement with a required operating performance measure and considered
the alternatives. The staff was asked to further study developing an
operating performance measure under (1) a definitional approach, (2) a
descriptional approach, and (3) a self-defined approach.
The Board also asked the staff to research operating income measures
from financial and nonfinancial entities and observe what items are
included and excluded from those measures.
Performance Statement—Disaggregation
The Board discussed alternative ways to require greater disaggregation
of performance information in either a presentation or disclosure
setting. Board members' preferences differed on the alternatives.
To help narrow the alternatives, the Board asked the staff to provide
additional analysis on the following alternatives: (1) disaggregate
functional lines into natural components, (2) redefine infrequency of
occurrence, (3) define and separate remeasurements, and (4) describe the
aggregation process.
Cash Flow Statement—Structure
The Board discussed whether to revise the definitions of operating,
investing, and financing activities. No additional research was
requested.
Cash Flow Statement—Classification Issues
The Board discussed whether to make improvements to the classification
guidance for certain types of cash flows for which the guidance is
either unclear or lacking. The Board directed the staff to bring a
separate agenda request for a potential new project on targeted cash
flow classification improvements, similar to the recent Emerging Issues
Task Force projects.
Articulation
The Board discussed articulation of information in the financial
statements and how the interrelationships between the statements could
be made more apparent through presentation. The Board observed that it
should not undertake additional work with respect to articulation at
this time; however, this matter could be revisited if, and when,
progress is made on the structure of the performance statement.