The GASB is proposing the postponement of effective dates of several critical upcoming GASB Statements in an effort to provide much needed relief to state and local governments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GASB is working on an expedited schedule to issue a final statement as soon as possible. The Exposure Draft would postpone by one year the effective dates of statements to be implemented by state and local governments for fiscal years 2019 and later.

In all, the Exposure Draft postpones the effective dates of provisions in nine Statements and five Implementation Guides as follows:

• Statement No. 83, Certain Asset Retirement Obligations
• Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities
• Statement No. 87, Leases
• Statement No. 88, Certain Disclosures Related to Debt, including Direct Borrowings and Direct Placements
• Statement No. 89, Accounting for Interest Cost Incurred before the End of a Construction Period
• Statement No. 90, Majority Equity Interests
• Statement No. 91, Conduit Debt Obligations
• Statement No. 92, Omnibus 2020, paragraphs 6–10 and 12
• Statement No. 93, Replacement of Interbank Offered Rates, paragraphs 13 and 14
• Implementation Guide No. 2017-3, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions (and Certain Issues Related to OPEB Plan Reporting), Questions 4.85, 4.103, 4.108, 4.109, 4.225, 4.239, 4.244, 4.245, 4.484, 4.491, and 5.1–5.4
• Implementation Guide No. 2018-1, Implementation Guidance Update—2018
• Implementation Guide No. 2019-1, Implementation Guidance Update—2019
• Implementation Guide No. 2019-2, Fiduciary Activities
• Implementation Guide No. 2019-3, Leases

The GASB still encourages early implementation, which is important to governments that already have implemented some of these provisions or intend to proceed with implementation under the original effective dates.

The full text of the Exposure Draft is available here.

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Published: 05/01/2020

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