FASAB proposes amendments to federal standards for leases

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is looking for input on some proposed changes in accounting standards for the federal government in the area of leases.

The changes come amid the rollout of FASB’s far-reaching leases standard for businesses, which would put operating leases on the balance sheets of companies for the first time this year. GASB has also been updating its leases standard for state and local governments and on Thursday posted some proposed implementation guidance for them to use.

FASAB is proposing guidance that would eliminate the required supplementary stewardship information category by rescinding SFFAS 8, Supplementary Stewardship Reporting, and update references to leases in SFFAS 5, "Accounting for Liabilities of the Federal Government," SFFAS 6, Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment, and SFFAS 49, Public-Private Partnerships: Disclosure Requirements, and make a minor change for clarity.

By rescinding the earlier SFFAS 8, FASAB would remove a reporting requirement that users have not relied upon while clarifying that reporting entities have the option to present information in categories more referenced by users. In addition, SFFAS 54, Leases: An Amendment of SFFAS 5, 'Accounting for Liabilities of the Federal Government,' and SFFAS 6, 'Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment,' amended the lease standards in SFFAS 5 and 6. This statement would amend certain references to leases affected by SFFAS 54 as well as other minor changes to improve the clarity of the existing statements.

FASAB is asking for comments on the exposure draft by April 23, 2019. The documents are available on the FASAB website.