Government Accounting

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board published an exposure draft (ED), Presentation of Significant Assumptions for the Statement of Social Insurance: Amending SFFAS 25, in March. The ED proposes requiring disclosure of significant assumptions underlying the “statement of social insurance,” which—for federal government entities administering a social insurance program—reports the net present value of long-term cash-flow forecasts of taxes and benefits relating to the Social Security, Medicare, Black Lung and Railroad Retirement Board programs. Thus, the proposal would reclassify significant assumptions as basic information rather than as required supplementary information. The proposed disclosures are intended to help financial statement users assess uncertainty in a government entity’s long-range projections. Comments are due May 17.