New York CPAs Suggest Items for FASB Agenda

The New York State Society of CPAs has some recommendations for items that the Financial Accounting Standards Board should add to its to-do list.

The NYSSCPA sent a comment letter to FASB in response to a request for recommendations on its future agenda. Among the NYSSCPA's suggestions were updating the framework for distinguishing liabilities from equity, along with updating the guidance for the treatment of intangible assets, including research and development.

The Society pointed out that the framework for distinguishing liabilities from equity could have the most wide-reaching impact on financial statement users and preparers and users of financial statements. As for intangible assets, it said the intricacies of this subject deserve further research

The letter also recommended that FASB develop a more open and accessible mechanism for ongoing submission of additional topics for FASB agenda review and consideration. FASB should also conduct a comprehensive analysis across a diverse population of financial statement users to better understand what information they feel is necessary, why it is necessary, and in what form this information could be better, the NYSSPA suggested.

“After an exhaustive study of the FASB Invitation to Comment—Agenda Consultation and earnest discussion by the NYSSCPA Financial Accounting Standards Committee, the Society has offered what we feel are thoughtful, practical, implementable contributions addressing critical issues impacting the accounting profession now and into the future,” said NYSSCPA Financial Accounting Standards Chair Craig Goodman in a statement. “More work lies ahead yet we are confident that with continued feedback between colleagues, fellow practitioners, and regulators, that much needed updated guidance can be achieved in the near term.”