FASB Begins Redeliberating Project on Business Entities’ Disclosures About Government Assistance
June 14, 2016 — At its June 8, 2016, meeting, the FASB began redeliberating its project on business entities’ disclosures about government assistance to discuss the feedback received on its proposed ASU on this topic.1 Topics addressed at the meeting included the project’s scope, disclosures about government assistance received but not recognized directly in the financial statements, and restrictions that would preclude an entity from disclosing the information required.
Scope
The FASB staff noted that several stakeholders provided feedback in which they asked the Board to consider including recognition, measurement, and presentation within the scope of the project rather than limiting it to disclosures; however, the Board reaffirmed that the scope will apply to disclosures only. Specifically, the Board decided the following:
- Topics to be excluded from the scope of the project:
- Government assistance agreements that are within the scope of ASC 740.2
- Employee benefit plans.
- Topics reaffirmed to be within the scope of the project:
- Entities that enter into legally enforceable agreements with a government to receive cash, nonmonetary assets, or benefits that reduce or eliminate an entity’s expenditures. The Board directed the staff to further analyze the types of nonmonetary assets that should be included within the scope of the project.
- Not-for-profit entities.
Disclosures About Government Assistance Received but Not Recognized Directly in the Financial Statements
The Board decided not to require entities to disclose government assistance received but not recognized directly in the financial statements.
Restrictions That Would Preclude an Entity From Disclosing the Information Required
The Board decided to clarify the requirements to allow an entity to omit disclosures if it is legally prohibited from providing such disclosures; however, an entity will be required to disclose a general description of the information omitted as well as a reference to the specific source of legal restriction.
Next Steps
The Board will continue to conduct additional redeliberations at future meetings before issuing a final ASU.
Footnotes
1
FASB Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Disclosures by Business Entities About Government Assistance.
2
For titles of FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) references, see Deloitte’s “Titles of Topics and Subtopics in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification.”