FASB Solicits Private Co. Input On Particular Standards At Upcoming Roundtables

FASB Solicits Private Co. Input On Particular Standards At Upcoming Roundtables
August 8, 2011
FEI Summary

On Aug. 4, 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a call for representatives from private companies to speak at public roundtables on "issues relating to existing private company accounting and reporting standards." Separately, FEI launched a program last year called the "Private Company Roundtable," discussed further below.

Private Co. Input Sought on Need For Differention in Existing GAAP
Two such roundtables seeking private company input on existing generally accepted accounting principles will be convened on Oct. 11 in Chicago and Oct. 17 in San Francisco. The purpose of the October roundtables, following on similar roundtables held last year, was described by FASB Chairman Leslie Seidman in FASB's press release as follows:

"...to engage in a constructive dialogue about private company accounting and reporting issues on existing GAAP with a wide variety of stakeholders, including private companies, their CPA practitioners, and users of private company financial statements."

Seidman added:

"The [FASB] board and staff found that the two roundtables we held last fall were valuable forums for hearing first hand from private company constituents about their concerns with existing GAAP. Those roundtables provided the impetus for our efforts to develop a differential reporting framework for private companies and our project to simplify goodwill impairment assessments."

VIEs, Swaps, Fair Value Among Topics
Topics to be addressed at FASB's October roundtables, according to the board, are expected to include, but will not be limited to, accounting and disclosure requirements relating to:
- variable interest entities,
- interest rate swaps, and
- level 3 fair value measurements.

Private company stakeholders (preparers, auditors, users of private company financial statements, and others) interested in being considered as a participant in FASB's October roundtables need to complete this online application form by Sept.13.

Join FEI's Private Company Roundtable
Speaking of private companies and "roundtables," Financial Executives International, an association of senior-level financial executives, launched an outreach program last year called the "Private Company Roundtable" (PCR).

Building on the success of FEI's Committee on Private Company Policy, and Committee on Private Company Standards, PCR has met with great success in providing an avenue for senior-level financial executives from private companies to participate in educational, networking and advocacy opportunities, through conference calls, webcasts and an upcoming Town Hall meeting.

FEI's PCR is open to all interested FEI members, whereas membership in CPC-P, CPC-S and FEI's other national technical committees is more limited.

Participants in FEI's Private Company Roundtable can:
- Join fellow members in quarterly conference calls to discuss important private company topics and hear from high-ranking government officials and technical experts.
- Receive initiations to participate in discussions regarding finance policy issues and critical-interest topics with Congressional members, Administration officials, and senior staffers.
- Provide feedback on business operations and the potential business impact of policies to assist FEI in the formulation of policy positions and strategic education and advocacy efforts.
- Offer support on critical issues through targeted correspondence to policy-makers regarding information that is timely and pertinent to private companies.

For more information on FEI's Private Company Roundtable, contact Tyler Roberts in FEI's Washington, D.C., office at troberts@financialexecutives.org.

FEI Private Company Roundtable's Townhall Sept. 26;
FEI Washington Policy Conference Sept. 26-27
FEI's Private Company Roundtable is hosting its inaugural in-person Town Hall meeting on Sept.26, in advance of the 2nd annual FEI Washington Policy Conference (of interest to public companies and private companies) on Sept. 26-27. Read more about these programs here.

Prepared Aug. 8, 2011 by Edith Orenstein, director of Accounting Policy Analysis and Communications, Financial Executives International. This summary does not represent FEI opinion, unless specifically noted above.