The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a set of narrow modifications to clarify various accounting standards.
Many of the amendments remove inconsistencies among the different standards. Most of them take effect immediately, but others take effect for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2016.
Some of the changes aim to promote consistent use of terms such as “participating insurance” and “reinsurance recoverable,” or to remove the term “debt” from FASB’s Master Glossary. Another change clarifies the difference between “valuation approach” and “valuation technique” in the standard for fair value measurement. Yet another modification clarifies the obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements.
“While narrow in scope, the technical changes in the ASU are intended to make it easier to understand and implement guidance across important areas of GAAP,” said FASB chairman Russell G. Golden in a statement. “We encourage stakeholders to review the new provisions.”
A complete list of the amendments, along with the details on the effective dates and transition to them, is available in an accounting standards update on FASB’s website
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Michael Cohn, editor-in-chief of AccountingToday.com, has been covering business and technology for a variety of publications since 1985.