November 2012 GASAC Agenda

November 2012 GASAC Agenda:

Introduction and Approval of June 2012 minutes

GASB Chairman's Report and Comments from other members of the GASB

GASAC member Feedback on Financial Guarantees Project

GASAC Member Feedback on Economic Condition Reporting: Financial Projections

Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting Implementation and Communication Update and GASAC Member Reports on Pension Outreach Activities.

Report of the Financial Accounting Foundation

GASAC Member Feedback on Other Post Employment Benefits Project

GASAC Member Feedback on Fair Value Measurement and Application Project

GASAC Member Feedback on Conceptual Framework - Recognition and Measurement Approaches

GASAC Member Feedback on Government Combinations Project

GASAC Member Feedback on GAAP Hierarchy Project

GASB Director of Research and Technical Activities Report

Executive Committee Report

Other Business

GASB Issues Statement 68

The primary objective of this Statement is to improve accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments for pensions. It also improves information provided by state and local governmental employers about financial support for pensions that is provided by other entities. This Statement results from a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of existing standards of accounting and financial reporting for pensions with regard to providing decision-useful information, supporting assessments of accountability and interperiod equity, and creating additional transparency.
 

 

This Statement replaces the requirements of Statement No. 27, Accounting for Pensions by State and Local Governmental Employers, as well as the requirements of Statement No. 50, Pension Disclosures, as they relate to pensions that are provided through pension plans administered as trusts or equivalent arrangements (hereafter jointly referred to as trusts) that meet certain criteria. The requirements of Statements 27 and 50 remain applicable for pensions that are not covered by the scope of this Statement.

 

Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, revises existing standards of financial reporting for most pension plans. This Statement and Statement 67 establish a definition of a pension plan that reflects the primary activities associated with the pension arrangement—determining pensions, accumulating and managing assets dedicated for pensions, and paying benefits to plan members as they come due.

 

The scope of this Statement addresses accounting and financial reporting for pensions that are provided to the employees of state and local governmental employers through pension plans that are administered through trusts that have the following characteristics:

  

• Contributions from employers and nonemployer contributing entities to the pension plan and earnings on those contributions are irrevocable.
• Pension plan assets are dedicated to providing pensions to plan members in accordance with the benefit terms.
• Pension plan assets are legally protected from the creditors of employers, nonemployer contributing entities, and the pension plan administrator. If the plan is a defined benefit pension plan, plan assets also are legally protected from creditors of the plan members.

This Statement establishes standards for measuring and recognizing liabilities, deferred outflows of resources, and deferred inflows of resources, and expense/expenditures. For defined benefit pensions, this Statement identifies the methods and assumptions that should be used to project benefit payments, discount projected benefit payments to their actuarial present value, and attribute that present value to periods of employee service.

Note disclosure and required supplementary information requirements about pensions also are addressed. Distinctions are made regarding the particular requirements for employers based on the number of employers whose employees are provided with pensions through the pension plan and whether pension obligations and pension plan assets are shared. Employers are classified in one of the following categories for purposes of this Statement:
 

• Single employers are those whose employees are provided with defined benefit pensions through single-employer pension plans—pension plans in which pensions are provided to the employees of only one employer (as defined in this Statement).
• Agent employers are those whose employees are provided with defined benefit pensions through agent multiple-employer pension plans—pension plans in which plan assets are pooled for investment purposes but separate accounts are maintained for each individual employer so that each employer’s share of the pooled assets is legally available to pay the benefits of only its employees.
• Cost-sharing employers are those whose employees are provided with defined benefit pensions through cost-sharing multiple-employer pension plans—pension plans in which the pension obligations to the employees of more than one employer are pooled and plan assets can be used to pay the benefits of the employees of any employer that provides pensions through the pension plan.

In addition, this Statement details the recognition and disclosure requirements for employers with liabilities (payables) to a defined benefit pension plan and for employers whose employees are provided with defined contribution pensions. This Statement also addresses circumstances in which a nonemployer entity has a legal requirement to make contributions directly to a pension plan.

Defined Benefit Pensions

This Statement requires the liability of employers and nonemployer contributing entities to employees for defined benefit pensions (net pension liability) to be measured as the portion of the present value of projected benefit payments to be provided through the pension plan to current active and inactive employees that is attributed to those employees’ past periods of service (total pension liability), less the amount of the pension plan’s fiduciary net position.

Actuarial valuations of the total pension liability are required to be performed at least every two years, with more frequent valuations encouraged. If a valuation is not performed as of the measurement date, the total pension liability is required to be based on update procedures to roll forward amounts from an earlier actuarial valuation (performed as of a date no more than 30 months and 1 day prior to the employer’s most recent year-end). Unless otherwise specified by this Statement, all assumptions underlying the determination of the total pension liability and related measures set forth by this Statement are required to be made in conformity with Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.

Projections of benefit payments are required to be based on the benefit terms and legal agreements existing at the measurement date and to incorporate the effects of projected salary changes (if the pension formula incorporates future compensation levels) and service credits (if the pension formula incorporates periods of service), as well as projected automatic postemployment benefit changes, including automatic cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs). Projections also are required to include the effects of ad hoc postemployment benefit changes (including ad hoc COLAs), if they are considered to be substantively automatic.

Projected benefit payments are required to be discounted to their actuarial present value using the single rate that reflects (1) a long-term expected rate of return on pension plan investments to the extent that the pension plan’s fiduciary net position is projected to be sufficient to pay benefits and pension plan assets are expected to be invested using a strategy to achieve that return and (2) a tax-exempt, high-quality municipal bond rate to the extent that the conditions for use of the long-term expected rate of return are not met.

The actuarial present value of projected benefit payments is required to be attributed to periods of employee service using the entry age actuarial cost method with each period’s service cost determined as a level percentage of pay. The actuarial present value is required to be attributed for each employee individually, from the period when the employee first accrues pensions through the period when the employee retires.

Single and Agent Employers

In financial statements prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and accrual basis of accounting, a single or agent employer that does not have a special funding situation is required to recognize a liability equal to the net pension liability. The net pension liability is required to be measured as of a date no earlier than the end of the employer’s prior fiscal year (the measurement date), consistently applied from period to period.

The pension expense and deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions that are required to be recognized by an employer primarily result from changes in the components of the net pension liability—that is, changes in the total pension liability and in the pension plan’s fiduciary net position.

This Statement requires that most changes in the net pension liability be included in pension expense in the period of the change. For example, changes in the total pension liability resulting from current-period service cost, interest on the total pension liability, and changes of benefit terms are required to be included in pension expense immediately. Projected earnings on the pension plan’s investments also are required to be included in the determination of pension expense immediately.

The effects of certain other changes in the net pension liability are required to be included in pension expense over the current and future periods. The effects on the total pension liability of (1) changes of economic and demographic assumptions or of other inputs and (2) differences between expected and actual experience are required to be included in pension expense in a systematic and rational manner over a closed period equal to the average of the expected remaining service lives of all employees that are provided with benefits through the pension plan (active employees and inactive employees), beginning with the current period. The effect on the net pension liability of differences between the projected earnings on pension plan investments and actual experience with regard to those earnings is required to be included in pension expense in a systematic and rational manner over a closed period of five years, beginning with the current period. Changes in the net pension liability not included in pension expense are required to be reported as deferred outflows of resources or deferred inflows of resources related to pensions.

Employer contributions subsequent to the measurement date of the net pension liability are required to be reported as deferred outflows of resources.

Financial Statements Prepared Using the Current Financial Resources Measurement Focus and Modified Accrual Basis of Accounting

In governmental fund financial statements, a net pension liability should be recognized to the extent the liability is normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources. Pension expenditures should be recognized equal to the total of (1) amounts paid by the employer to the pension plan and (2) the change between the beginning and ending balances of amounts normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources.

Notes to Financial Statements

The Statement requires that notes to financial statements of single and agent employers include descriptive information, such as the types of benefits provided and the number and classes of employees covered by the benefit terms. Single and agent employers also should disclose the following information.

• For the current year, sources of changes in the net pension liability
• Significant assumptions and other inputs used to calculate the total pension liability, including those about inflation, salary changes, ad hoc postemployment benefit changes (including ad hoc COLAs), and inputs to the discount rate, as well as certain information about mortality assumptions and the dates of experience studies.
• The date of the actuarial valuation used to determine the total pension liability, information about changes of assumptions or other inputs and benefit terms, the basis for determining employer contributions to the pension plan, and information about the purchase of allocated insurance contracts, if any.

Required Supplementary Information

This Statement requires single and agent employers to present in required supplementary information the following information, determined as of the measurement date, for each of the 10 most recent fiscal years:
 

• Sources of changes in the net pension liability
• The components of the net pension liability and related ratios, including the pension plan’s fiduciary net position as a percentage of the total pension liability, and the net pension liability as a percentage of covered-employee payroll.

If the contributions of a single or agent employer are actuarially determined, the employer should present in required supplementary information a schedule covering each of the 10 most recent fiscal years that includes information about the actuarially determined contribution, contributions to the pension plan, and related ratios. If the contributions of a single or agent employer are not actuarially determined but are established in statute or by contract, the employer should present a schedule covering each of the 10 most recent fiscal years that includes information about the statutorily or contractually required contribution rates, contributions to the pension plan, and related ratios.

 

Significant methods and assumptions used in calculating the actuarially determined contributions, if applicable, should be presented as notes to required supplementary information. In addition, the employer should explain factors that significantly affect trends in the amounts reported in the schedules, such as changes of benefit terms, changes in the size or composition of the population covered by the benefit terms, or the use of different assumptions.

 

Cost-Sharing Employers

 

In financial statements prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and accrual basis of accounting, a cost-sharing employer that does not have a special funding situation is required to recognize a liability for its proportionate share of the net pension liability (of all employers for benefits provided through the pension plan)—the collective net pension liability. An employer’s proportion is required to be determined on a basis that is consistent with the manner in which contributions to the pension plan are determined, and consideration should be given to separate rates, if any, related to separate portions of the collective net pension liability. The use of the employer’s projected long-term contribution effort as compared to the total projected long-term contribution effort of all employers as the basis for determining an employer’s proportion is encouraged.

 

A cost-sharing employer is required to recognize pension expense and report deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions for its proportionate shares of collective pension expense and collective deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions.

 

In addition, the effects of (1) a change in the employer’s proportion of the collective net pension liability and (2) differences during the measurement period between the employer’s contributions and its proportionate share of the total of contributions from employers included in the collective net pension liability are required to be determined. These effects are required to be recognized in the employer’s pension expense in a systematic and rational manner over a closed period equal to the average of the expected remaining service lives of all employees that are provided with pensions through the pension plan (active employees and inactive employees). The portions of the effects not recognized in the employer’s pension expense are required to be reported as deferred outflows of resources or deferred inflows of resources related to pensions. Employer contributions to the pension plan subsequent to the measurement date of the collective net pension liability also are required to be reported as deferred outflows of resources related to pensions.

 

In governmental fund financial statements, the cost-sharing employer’s proportionate share of the collective net pension liability is required to be recognized to the extent the liability is normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources. Pension expenditures should be recognized equal to the total of (1) amounts paid by the employer to the pension plan and (2) the change between the beginning and ending balances of amounts normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources.

 

This Statement requires that notes to financial statements of cost-sharing employers include descriptive information about the pension plans through which the pensions are provided. Cost-sharing employers should identify the discount rate and assumptions made in the measurement of their proportionate shares of net pension liabilities, similar to the disclosures about those items that should be made by single and agent employers. Cost-sharing employers, like single and agent employers, also should disclose information about how their contributions to the pension plan are determined.

 

This Statement requires cost-sharing employers to present in required supplementary information 10-year schedules containing (1) the net pension liability and certain related ratios and (2) if applicable, information about statutorily or contractually required contributions, contributions to the pension plan, and related ratios.

 

Defined Contribution Pensions

 

An employer whose employees are provided with defined contribution pensions is required to recognize pension expense for the amount of contributions to employees’ accounts that are defined by the benefit terms as attributable to employees’ services in the period, net of forfeited amounts that are removed from employees’ accounts. A change in the pension liability is required to be recognized for the difference between amounts recognized in expense and amounts paid by the employer to a defined contribution pension plan. In governmental fund financial statements, pension expenditures should be recognized equal to the total of (1) amounts paid by the employer to a pension plan and (2) the change between the beginning and ending balances of amounts normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources. A pension liability should be recognized to the extent the liability is normally expected to be liquidated with expendable available financial resources. Notes to financial statements of an employer with a defined contribution plan should include descriptive information about the pension plan and benefit terms, contribution rates and how they are determined, and amounts attributed to employee service and forfeitures in the current period.

 

Special Funding Situations

 

In this Statement, special funding situations are defined as circumstances in which a nonemployer entity is legally responsible for making contributions directly to a pension plan that is used to provide pensions to the employees of another entity or entities and either (1) the amount of contributions for which the nonemployer entity legally is responsible is not dependent upon one or more events unrelated to pensions or (2) the nonemployer is the only entity with a legal obligation to make contributions directly to a pension plan.

 

This Statement requires an employer that has a special funding situation for defined benefit pensions to recognize a pension liability and deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions with adjustments for the involvement of nonemployer contributing entities. The employer is required to recognize its proportionate share of the collective pension expense, as well as additional pension expense and revenue for the pension support of the nonemployer contributing entities. This Statement requires the employer to disclose in notes to financial statements information about the amount of support provided by nonemployer contributing entities and to present similar information about the involvement of those entities in 10-year schedules of required supplementary information.

 

The approach required by this Statement for measurement and recognition of liabilities, deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources, and expense by a governmental nonemployer contributing entity in a special funding situation for defined benefit pensions is similar to the approach required for cost-sharing employers.

 

The information that should be disclosed in notes to financial statements and presented in required supplementary information of a governmental nonemployer contributing entity in a special funding situation depends on the proportion of the collective net pension liability that it recognizes. If the governmental nonemployer contributing entity recognizes a substantial proportion of the collective net pension liability, it should disclose in notes to financial statements a description of the pensions, including the types of benefits provided and the employees covered, and the discount rate and assumptions made in the measurement of the net pension liability. The governmental nonemployer contributing entity also should present schedules of required supplementary information similar to those required of a cost-sharing employer. Reduced note disclosures and required supplementary information are required for governmental nonemployer contributing entities that recognize a less-than-substantial portion of the collective net pension liability.

 

This Statement also establishes requirements related to special funding situations for defined contribution pensions.

 

Effective Date and Transition

 

This Statement is effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2014. Earlier application is encouraged.

 

GASB Issues Statement 67

The objective of this Statement is to improve financial reporting by state and local governmental pension plans. This Statement results from a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of existing standards of accounting and financial reporting for pensions with regard to providing decision-useful information, supporting assessments of accountability and interperiod equity, and creating additional transparency. This Statement replaces the requirements of Statements No. 25, Financial Reporting for Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Note Disclosures for Defined Contribution Plans, and No. 50, Pension Disclosures, as they relate to pension plans that are administered through trusts or equivalent arrangements (hereafter jointly referred to as trusts) that meet certain criteria. The requirements of Statements 25 and 50 remain applicable to pension plans that are not administered through trusts covered by the scope of this Statement and to defined contribution plans that provide postemployment benefits other than pensions.

 

Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, establishes accounting and financial reporting requirements related to pensions for governments whose employees are provided with pensions through pension plans that are covered by the scope of this Statement, as well as for nonemployer governments that have a legal obligation to contribute to those plans.

 

This Statement and Statement 68 establish a definition of a pension plan that reflects the primary activities associated with the pension arrangement—determining pensions, accumulating and managing assets dedicated for pensions, and paying benefits to plan members as they come due. The scope of this Statement addresses accounting and financial reporting for the activities of pension plans that are administered through trusts that have the following characteristics:

 

• Contributions from employers and nonemployer contributing entities to the pension plan and earnings on those contributions are irrevocable.
• Pension plan assets are dedicated to providing pensions to plan members in accordance with the benefit terms.
• Pension plan assets are legally protected from the creditors of employers, nonemployer contributing entities, and the pension plan administrator. If the plan is a defined benefit pension plan, plan assets also are legally protected from creditors of the plan members.

For defined benefit pension plans, this Statement establishes standards of financial reporting for separately issued financial reports and specifies the required approach to measuring the pension liability of employers and nonemployer contributing entities for benefits provided through the pension plan (the net pension liability), about which information is required to be presented. Distinctions are made regarding the particular requirements depending upon the type of pension plan administered, as follows:

• Single-employer pension plans—those in which pensions are provided to the employees of only one employer (as defined in this Statement)
• Agent multiple-employer pension plans (agent pension plans)—those in which plan assets are pooled for investment purposes but separate accounts are maintained for each individual employer so that each employer’s share of the pooled assets is legally available to pay the benefits of only its employees
• Cost-sharing multiple-employer pension plans (cost-sharing pension plans)—those in which the pension obligations to the employees of more than one employer are pooled and plan assets can be used to pay the benefits of the employees of any employer that provides pensions through the pension plan.

This Statement also details the note disclosure requirements for defined contribution pension plans administered through trusts that meet the identified criteria.

Defined Benefit Pension Plans

Financial Statements

This Statement requires defined benefit pension plans to present two financial statements—a statement of fiduciary net position and a statement of changes in fiduciary net position. The statement of fiduciary net position presents the following items as of the end of the pension plan’s reporting period, as applicable:

• Assets, such as cash and cash equivalents, receivables from employers and plan members, investments (measured at fair value), and equipment and other assets used in pension plan operations
• Deferred outflows of resources
• Liabilities, such as benefit payments due to plan members
• Deferred inflows of resources
• Fiduciary net position, which equals assets, plus deferred outflows of resources, minus liabilities, minus deferred inflows of resources.

The statement of changes in fiduciary net position presents the following items for the pension plan’s reporting period:

• Additions, such as contributions from employers, nonemployer contributing entities, and plan members, and net investment income
• Deductions, such as benefit payments and administrative expense
• Net increase (decrease) in fiduciary net position, which equals the difference between additions and deductions.

In addition to the requirements of this Statement, defined benefit pension plans also should follow all accounting and financial reporting requirements of other standards, as applicable.

Notes to Financial Statements

This Statement requires that notes to financial statements of defined benefit pension plans include descriptive information, such as the types of benefits provided, the classes of plan members covered, and the composition of the pension plan’s board. Such pension plans also should disclose information about pension plan investments, including the pension plan’s investment policies, a description of how fair value is determined, concentrations of investments with individual organizations equaling or exceeding 5 percent of the pension plan’s fiduciary net position, and the annual money-weighted rate of return on pension plan investments. Other required note disclosures include information about contributions, reserves, and allocated insurance contracts.

Single-employer and cost-sharing pension plans also should disclose the following information:

• The portion of the actuarial present value of projected benefit payments to be provided through the pension plan to current active and inactive plan members that is attributed to those members’ past periods of service (the total pension liability), the pension plan’s fiduciary net position, the net pension liability, and the pension plan’s fiduciary net position as a percentage of the total pension liability
• Significant assumptions and other inputs used to calculate the total pension liability, including those about inflation, salary changes, ad hoc postemployment benefit changes (including ad hoc cost-of-living adjustments [COLAs]), and inputs to the discount rate, as well as certain information about mortality assumptions and the dates of experience studies.

Required Supplementary Information

This Statement requires single-employer and cost-sharing pension plans to present in required supplementary information the following information for each of the 10 most recent fiscal years about employer and nonemployer contributing entity obligations for pensions provided through the pension plan:

• Sources of changes in the net pension liability
• Information about the components of the net pension liability and related ratios, including the pension plan’s fiduciary net position as a percentage of the total pension liability, and the net pension liability as a percentage of covered-employee payroll.

If the contributions of employers or nonemployer contributing entities to a single-employer or cost-sharing pension plan are actuarially determined, the pension plan should present in required supplementary information a schedule covering each of the 10 most recent fiscal years that includes information about the actuarially determined contribution, contributions to the pension plan, and related ratios. Significant methods and assumptions used in calculating the actuarially determined contributions should be presented as notes to the schedules.

 

All defined benefit pension plans, including agent pension plans, should present in required supplementary information a schedule covering each of the 10 most recent fiscal years that includes the annual money-weighted rate of return on pension plan investments for each year. In addition, all pension plans should explain factors that significantly affect trends in the amounts reported in the schedules of required supplementary information, such as changes of benefit terms, changes in the size or composition of the population covered by the benefit terms, or the use of different assumptions.

 

Measurement of the Net Pension Liability

 

This Statement requires the net pension liability to be measured as the total pension liability, less the amount of the pension plan’s fiduciary net position. Actuarial valuations of the total pension liability are required to be performed at least every two years, with more frequent valuations encouraged. If a valuation is not performed as of the pension plan’s fiscal year-end, the total pension liability is required to be based on update procedures to roll forward amounts from an earlier actuarial valuation (performed as of a date no more than 24 months prior to the pension plan’s fiscal year-end). Unless otherwise specified by this Statement, all assumptions underlying the determination of the total pension liability are required to be made in conformity with Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.

 

Projections of benefit payments are required to be based on the benefit terms and legal agreements existing at the pension plan’s fiscal year-end and to incorporate the effects of projected salary changes (if the pension formula incorporates compensation levels) and service credits (if the pension formula incorporates periods of service), as well as projected automatic postemployment benefit changes (including automatic COLAs). Projections also are required to include the effects of ad hoc postemployment benefit changes (including ad hoc COLAs), if they are considered to be substantively automatic.

Projected benefit payments are required to be discounted to their actuarial present value using the single rate that reflects (1) a long-term expected rate of return on pension plan investments to the extent that the pension plan’s fiduciary net position is projected to be sufficient to pay benefits and pension plan assets are expected to be invested using a strategy to achieve that return and (2) a tax-exempt, high-quality municipal bond rate to the extent that the conditions for use of the long-term expected rate of return are not met.

 

The actuarial present value of projected benefit payments is required to be attributed to periods of plan member service using the entry age actuarial cost method with each period’s service cost determined as a level percentage of pay. The actuarial present value is required to be attributed for each plan member individually, from the period when the plan member first accrues pensions through the period when the plan member retires.

 

Defined Contribution Pension Plans

 

In the notes to financial statements, defined contribution pension plans should disclose the classes of plan members covered; the number of plan members, participating employers, and, if any, nonemployer contributing entities; and the authority under which the pension plan is established and may be amended.

 

Effective Date and Transition

 

This Statement is effective for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2013. Earlier application is encouraged

 

GASB Issues Statement 66

The objective of this Statement is to improve accounting and financial reporting for a governmental financial reporting entity by resolving conflicting guidance that resulted from the issuance of two pronouncements, Statements No. 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions, and No. 62, Codification of Accounting and Financial Reporting Guidance Contained in Pre-November 30, 1989 FASB and AICPA Pronouncements.

This Statement amends Statement No. 10, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Risk Financing and Related Insurance Issues, by removing the provision that limits fund-based reporting of an entity’s risk financing activities to the general fund and the internal service fund type. As a result, governments should base their decisions about fund type classification on the nature of the activity to be reported, as required in Statement 54 and Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments.

This Statement also amends Statement 62 by modifying the specific guidance on accounting for (1) operating lease payments that vary from a straight-line basis, (2) the difference between the initial investment (purchase price) and the principal amount of a purchased loan or group of loans, and (3) servicing fees related to mortgage loans that are sold when the stated service fee rate differs significantly from a current (normal) servicing fee rate. These changes clarify how to apply Statement No. 13, Accounting for Operating Leases with Scheduled Rent Increases, and result in guidance that is consistent with the requirements in Statement No. 48, Sales and Pledges of Receivables and Future Revenues and Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets and Future Revenues, respectively.

The provisions of this Statement are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2012. Earlier application is encouraged.

GASB Issues Statement 65

This Statement establishes accounting and financial reporting standards that reclassify, as deferred outflows of resources or deferred inflows of resources, certain items that were previously reported as assets and liabilities and recognizes, as outflows of resources or inflows of resources, certain items that were previously reported as assets and liabilities.

Concepts Statement No. 4, Elements of Financial Statements, introduced and defined the elements included in financial statements, including deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources. In addition, Concepts Statement 4 provides that reporting a deferred outflow of resources or a deferred inflow of resources should be limited to those instances identified by the Board in authoritative pronouncements that are established after applicable due process. Prior to the issuance of this Statement, only two such pronouncements have been issued. Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments, requires the reporting of a deferred outflow of resources or a deferred inflow of resources for the changes in fair value of hedging derivative instruments, and Statement No. 60, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Service Concession Arrangements, requires a deferred inflow of resources to be reported by a transferor government in a qualifying service concession arrangement. This Statement amends the financial statement element classification of certain items previously reported as assets and liabilities to be consistent with the definitions in Concepts Statement 4.

This Statement also provides other financial reporting guidance related to the impact of the financial statement elements deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources, such as changes in the determination of the major fund calculations and limiting the use of the term deferred in financial statement presentations.

The provisions of this Statement are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2012. Earlier application is encouraged

GASB Issues Statement 64

Statement 64 will improve financial reporting by state and local governments by clarifying the circumstances in which hedge accounting continues to be applied when a swap counterparty, or a swap counterparty’s credit support provider, is replaced.

Statement 64 clarifies that when certain conditions are met, the use of hedge accounting should not be terminated. Those conditions are: (1) the collectability of swap payments is considered to be probable, (2) the replacement of the counterparty or credit support provider meets the criteria of an assignment or in-substance assignment as described in the Statement, and (3) the counterparty or counterparty credit support provider (and not the government) has committed the act of default or termination event. When all of these conditions exist, the GASB believes that the hedging relationship continues and hedge accounting should continue to be applied.

GASB Statement No. 53 provides for the use of hedge accounting for derivatives that are effective hedges. Hedge accounting entails reporting fair value changes of a hedging derivative as either deferred outflows of resources or deferred inflows of resources, rather than recognizing those changes in investment income. When a hedging derivative is terminated, Statement 53 requires that hedge accounting cease and all accumulated deferred amounts be reported in investment income.

As Statement 53 was being implemented, questions had arisen regarding situations in which a government has entered into a hedging interest rate swap or a hedging commodity swap and the swap counterparty (or the swap counterparty’s credit support provider) commits or experiences an act of default or a termination event under the swap agreement through no fault of the government. When a swap counterparty (or a swap counterparty’s credit support provider) is replaced through an assignment or an in-substance assignment, the GASB concluded that the government’s financial position remains unchanged.

Statement 64 is effective for periods beginning after June 15, 2011, again with earlier application encouraged.

GASB Issues Statement 63

Statement 63 is intended to improve financial reporting by providing citizens and other users of state and local government financial reports with information about how past transactions will continue to impact a government’s financial statements in the future.

Statement 63 provides a new statement of net position format to report all assets, deferred outflows of resources, liabilities, deferred inflows of resources, and net position (which is the net residual amount of the other elements). The Statement requires that deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources be reported separately from assets and liabilities.

A deferred outflow of resources is a consumption of net assets that is applicable to a future reporting period. An example of a deferred outflow of resources is a government’s hedging interest rate swap agreement in which the fair value becomes negative. If the hedge is determined to be effectively offsetting the changes in fair value of the debt, the decrease in the fair value of the derivative instrument would be reported as a liability with a corresponding deferred outflow of resources to reflect the fact that this decrease is not expected to be recognized in investment income in future periods.

A deferred inflow of resources is an acquisition of net assets that is applicable to a future reporting period. An example of a deferred inflow of resources is a service concession arrangement that involves a public toll road. If the government receives an up-front payment from an operator, the revenue associated with that payment will be recognized in future years because the arrangement that generated the up-front payment relates to those periods.

Statement 63 also amends certain provisions of Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management’s Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments, and related pronouncements to reflect the residual measure in the statement of financial position as net position, rather than net assets.

The provisions of Statement 63 are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2011, with earlier application encouraged.