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Questions and Answers About the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) (PDF)

"The Governmental Accounting Standards Board or GASB is an independent, private-sector, not-for-profit organization that -- through an open and thorough due process -- establishes and improves standards of financial accounting and reporting for U.S. state and local governments. Governments and the accounting industry recognize the GASB as the official source of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for state and local governments."

Text of Governmental Accounting Standards Board's 'Preliminary Views' on Reporting and Accounting for Pension Obligations (PDF)

51 pages. Excerpt: The objective of this Preliminary Views is to present the Board's current views on what it believes are the most fundamental issues related to employer recognition and measurement of pensions in order to obtain comments from constituents before developing more detailed proposals for changes to existing standards. The views put forth in the chapters that follow generally are discussed as principles or concepts rather than as detailed potential requirements.

GASB White Paper: Why Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Is -- and Should Be -- Different

"Although state and local governments in the United States have had separate standards for over 100 years, occasionally the question is raised: Why can't general purpose governments (cities and counties, for example) simply apply the standards established for business enterprises?1 The following questions and answers briefly address that issue, and the accompanying paper and its appendixes provide an expanded discussion."

Text of GASB Implementation Guide for Statement 68: Accounting and Financial Reporting for Governmental Pensions

210 pages. Excerpt: "This Implementation Guide is intended to serve as a reference and an instructional tool. It is designed to help readers in applying the provisions of Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, which was approved in June 2012.... The questions and answers are based on constituent responses to the Preliminary Views and the Exposure Draft that led to the Statement, Board deliberations, technical inquiries arising since the issuance of the Statement, and insight by both the GASB staff and the guide's advisory committee."

Text of GASB Proposed Exposure Draft: Accounting and Financial Reporting by Governmental Employers, Regarding Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans (PDF)

"This proposed Statement would replace the requirements of Statements No. 45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions, as amended, and No. 57, OPEB Measurements by Agent Employers and Agent Multiple-Employer Plans, for OPEB. A related proposed Statement, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, would establish new accounting and financial reporting requirements for OPEB plans. The scope of this proposed Statement addresses accounting and financial reporting for OPEB that is provided to the employees of state and local governmental employers."

GASB Improves Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards

"The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) [on Monday, June 25, 2012] voted to approve two new standards that will substantially improve the accounting and financial reporting of public employee pensions by state and local governments. Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, revises existing guidance for the financial reports of most pension plans.... Statement 68 requires governments providing defined benefit pensions to recognize their long-term obligation for pension benefits as a liability for the first time, and to more comprehensively and comparably measure the annual costs of pension benefits.... The Statement calls for immediate recognition of more pension expense than is currently required.... The Statement also will improve the comparability and consistency of how governments calculate the pension liabilities and expense. These changes include: ..."

GASB Toolkit Helps State and Local Governments Implement New Accounting Standards

"The toolkit is designed to help preparers, auditors, and users of state and local government financial reports understand and apply the revised pension accounting and financial reporting standards that the GASB approved in June 2012. The toolkit is available at no cost at the GASB website."

GASB Toolkit Helps State and Local Government Pension Plans Implement New Accounting Standards

"[T]he toolkit includes the following resources: ... [1] [An] authoritative resource guide; [2] A video ... discussing the top implementation issues facing pension plans; [3] A podcast ... discussing the types of pension plans that will be affected by Statement 67 and the most significant changes to accounting and financial reporting for pension plans; [4] A background document answering frequently-asked questions ... [5] A fact sheet answering frequently-asked questions ... [6] An article identifying several areas plan administrators and public officials should consider as they plan, prepare, and collaborate when implementing the new standards; [7] A ... document addressing common misperceptions about the new pension standards, and [8] The executive summary and the full text of GASB Statement 67."

GASB Reconciles Disclosure Requirements for Governmental Pension and OPEB Reporting (PDF)

Excerpt: In view of progress made in disclosure requirements for state and local governments on retiree health insurance and other postemployment benefits (OPEB), the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has brought those same improvements to reporting for pension costs and obligations.

GASB Releases New Standards for Public Employee Pension Plans

"The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) today published standards intended to improve the accounting and financial reporting of public employee pensions by state and local governments. The two pronouncements, which were approved on June 25, are available to download at no charge on the GASB website. Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, revises existing guidance for the financial reports of most pension plans. Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, revises and establishes new financial reporting requirements for most governments that provide their employees with pension benefits."

Principal Governmental Pension Plan Associations Comment Letter to GASB Concerning GASB Exposure Drafts on Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting for State and Local Governments (PDF)

September 30, 2011. 'The members of these groups ... collectively manage substantially all of the nearly $3 trillion in pension assets for approximately 21 million working and retired public employees.... [W]e disagree with the Board's decision to separate measures of pension accounting from pension funding on the following grounds:[.]

GASB Declines to Delay Implementation Date of Pension Standards

"The Governmental Accounting Standards Board [has] voted unanimously not to delay the implementation date of GASB Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions. The requirements of Statement 68 are effective for periods beginning after June 15, 2014. The request to the Board for an indefinite delay in implementation date came from stakeholder groups that asserted that such a delay is necessary until related auditing procedures have been implemented for a sufficient period. The concern was expressed that governments in multiple-employer pension plans will receive a modified audit opinion on their financial statements in the interim."

Resources for GASB Invitation to Comment on Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting

Excerpt: The Governmental Accounting Standards Board currently is reviewing Statements 25 and 27, standards that provide guidance on pension accounting and financial reporting. In April 2009, GASB distributed an Invitation to Comment to solicit perspectives of interested individuals and groups regarding possible changes to these standards. Responses to the ITC are due July 31, 2009. Listed [on the target page] are resources pertaining to the ITC. Portions of the Invitation to Comment reflect views held by those who believe that public pension financial reporting should include plans' so-called market value of liabilities.

Text of GASB Exposure Draft Amending Statement No. 68: Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions Provided through Certain Multiple-Employer Defined Benefit Pension Plans (PDF)

15 pages. "This proposed Statement would amend the scope and applicability of Statement 68 to exclude pensions provided to employees of state or local governmental employers through a cost-sharing multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan that [1] is not a state or local governmental pension plan, [2] is used to provide defined benefit pensions to employees of employers that are not state or local governmental employers, and [3] has no predominant state or local governmental employer (either individually or collectively with other state or local governmental employers that provide pensions through the pension plan). This proposed Statement would establish requirements for recognition and measurement of pension expense/expenditures and liabilities, note disclosures, and required supplementary information for pensions that have [these] characteristics ... The requirements of this proposed Statement would be effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Earlier application would be permitted."

GASB Staff Proposes Guidance on Government Employer Accounting for Medicare Part D Payments (PDF)

Excerpt: [T]he law provides an incentive to employers to continue providing coverage -- a payment of as much as 28 percent of the cost of providing coverage to persons who would otherwise be eligible to enroll in Medicare Part D. This provision prompted questions from state and local governments about how to account for the federal payments, .... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has authorized the GASB staff to issue a proposed Technical Bulletin to answer these questions.

GASB Proposes Major Improvements for Governmental Reporting of Liability for Health Insurance and Other Retiree Benefits

"The most significant effect of the OPEB Exposure Drafts would be to require governments to recognize their net OPEB liabilities on the face of their financial statements -- providing all financial statement users with a more comprehensive understanding of these significant OPEB promises than is currently available.... The OPEB Employer Exposure Draft proposes that governments be required to report a liability for the OPEB that it will provide on the face of the financial statement.... The OPEB Employer Exposure Draft also proposes significant changes to how a government would calculate its OPEB liability and annual expense.... The OPEB Plan Exposure Draft addresses the financial reports of [DB] OPEB plans that are administered through trusts that meet certain criteria. It also details proposed note disclosure requirements for [DC] OPEB plans.... The Exposure Drafts, including instructions on how to submit written comments, are each expected to be available in mid-June on the GASB website[.]"

GASB Update: Two Views of Proposed Reforms for Governmental Pension Reporting and Accounting Rules

[T]wo recent studies provide contrasting views of the likely results of the proposed changes as they now stand. The first, a working paper by Robert Novy-Marx, concludes that under the GASB rules as proposed, a governmental pension plan can improve its funding status 'literally by burning money.' The second, [from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College] finds that employers and plan administrators should be prepared for funded ratios reported in their financial statements to decline sharply under the new GASB rules, but that '[p]olicymakers should not let new numbers throw them off course.'

GASB's New Pension Standards: Setting the Record Straight

"[Q]uestions and answers that should help clarify common misperceptions about the new pension Statements [for public employee pensions]. (1) Do the new GASB Statements establish requirements for how governments should fund their pensions?... (2) Will governments have to pay more each year for pensions because of the GASB's new Statements?... (4) Do the GASB's standards allow governments to make their liabilities look smaller by using a discount rate based on unrealistically high expected rates of investment return?... (7) Has the GASB determined that state and local government pension plans are underfunded by $3 trillion?"

Public Sector Offers Strong Response to GASB on Possible Accounting Rules Changes

Excerpt: A wide range of public sector officials, including scores of fiduciaries, administrators, and participants of NCTR member systems, filed comments with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in response to its Invitation to Comment (ITC) on possible revisions to GASB Statements 25 and 27. GASB is considering whether changes to its standards for accounting and reporting on the pension benefits that governments provide to their employees are needed, and had asked for comments on a number of issues related to such possible revisions by July 31, 2009. In addition to pension plans and their board members, state officials and national organizations representing a large majority of users of public pension financial reports also weighed in, stating their strong opposition to the so-called 'Market Valuation of Liabilities' method, or MVL. GASB is also holding a public hearing later in August to discuss the ITC, at which public pension representatives will also testify, as will proponents of MVL.

GASB Considering Improvements to Accounting Standards for Pension and Other Post Employment Benefits

Excerpt: As stated by GASB, the objectives are to improve: accountability – or the transparency of financial reporting – in regard to the financial effects of employers' commitments (i.e., improve the information provided to help report users assess the degree to which interperiod equity has been achieved), and usefulness of information for decisions relevant to the various users of the external financial reports of governmental employers and pension or OPEB plans.