GASB issued an exposure draft of a proposed guidance statement titled Accounting and Financial Reporting for Intangible Assets to answer questions about whether and when certain intangibles should be considered capital assets in financial reports. Intangibles frequently encountered by governments include easements, water and timber rights, patents, trademarks and computer software, GASB noted.
Specifically, the proposed statement would require that certain intangible assets be classified as capital assets and addresses issues of identifying, recognizing and amortizing them. Provisions of the proposed guidance generally would be applied retroactively and be reflected in financial statements for periods beginning after June 15, 2009. Comments on the draft, which is available at www.gasb.org/exp/ed_intangible_assets.pdf , are requested by March 23.