In September 2002 FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board made a long-term commitment to converge their accounting standards. They later identified how companies report accounting changes as one of the areas where FASB could improve its guidance by converging it with the provisions of IAS 8, Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors. The result of this effort is FASB Statement no. 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections, which was issued in 2005.
The new statement replaces APB Opinion no. 20, Accounting Changes, and FASB Statement no. 3, Reporting Accounting Changes in Interim Financial Statements. It focuses on how companies should treat a change in accounting principle. Previous guidance required CPAs to account for most changes by including the cumulative effect of changing to the new principle in net income. Comparative statements of prior years did not have to be restated. With implementation approaching at yearend, CPAs have only a short time left to understand Statement no. 154. This article outlines the important provisions of the new standard and possible implementation issues companies and their financial reporting staff will face.
THE NEW REQUIREMENTS
Change in accounting principle. The new statement requires what FASB calls “retrospective application” for all changes in accounting principle. Retrospective application refers to adjusting the opening balance of retained earnings or other components of equity (such as other accumulated comprehensive income) for the cumulative effect of the change on all prior periods rather than reporting it on the income statement. For example, a change from the Lifo inventory valuation method to Fifo likely would result in an upward adjustment of inventory and retained earnings. In addition, prior-year statements should be restated as if the new standard had been used for all periods presented. CPAs should use retrospective application for “voluntary” changes in accounting principle—that is, discretionary changes companies initiate themselves because the new method is preferable. It also applies to changes required by an accounting pronouncement in the unusual instance the pronouncement does not include specific transition provisions. When a pronouncement includes specific provisions, CPAs should follow them.
Impracticability exception. When it is not practical to determine either the period-specific effects or the cumulative effect of the change to all prior periods presented, the statement requires companies to apply the new accounting principle to asset and liability balances as of the beginning of the earliest period for which retrospective application is practicable and to make a corresponding adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings (or other component of equity) for that period. Companies must disclose the method used to report the change and the reason why retrospective application is impracticable. Determining impracticability. CPAs and their employers or clients must decide when retrospective application isn’t practicable. This is the case only when any of the following conditions exist:
— Provides evidence of circumstances that existed on the date(s) at which those amounts would be recognized, measured or disclosed under retrospective application. — Would have been available when the financial statements for that prior period were issued. Indirect effects of retrospective application. Retrospective application includes only the direct effects of a change in accounting principle, net of any related income tax effects. Indirect effects a company would have recognized had the newly adopted accounting principle been followed in prior periods are not included. Indirect effects can arise when a change in accounting principle affects cash flows from contractual obligations (such as current or future cash payments related to a profit-sharing plan in a prior period). If a company actually incurs and recognizes indirect effects, it should report them in the period the accounting change is made—not in the prior period. Interim periods. Companies should use retrospective application to report a change in accounting principle made in an interim period. The impracticability exception, however, may not be applied to prechange interim periods of the fiscal year in which the change is made. When retrospective application to prechange interim periods is impracticable, the desired change may be made only as of the beginning of a subsequent fiscal year. Change in accounting estimate. These changes are accounted for prospectively—in (a) the period of change if the change affects that period only or (b) the period of change and future periods if the change affects both. No prior periods are restated or adjusted and no pro forma amounts are disclosed. Under Statement no. 154, CPAs must account for a change in depreciation method as a change in accounting estimate—not a change in accounting principle. Thus, a switch from an accelerated method of depreciation to the straight-line method would be accounted for the same way as a change in estimated useful life or salvage value. FASB describes this as a change in accounting estimate effected by a change in accounting principle. CPAs must disclose why the change in depreciation is preferable.
Change in reporting entity.
Accounting changes that result in financial
statements of a different reporting entity are reported
retrospectively by restating all prior periods. For example,
when a company presents consolidated or combined financial
statements in place of statements for individual entities, a
change in reporting entity has occurred. CPAs should report an error in the financial statements of a prior period discovered after their issuance as a prior-period adjustment by adjusting the asset and liability balances of the first period presented. An offsetting adjustment is made to the opening balance of retained earnings for that period. The prior-period financial statements are restated for the period-specific effects of the error. When financial statements are restated to correct an error, CPAs should disclose its nature. The following disclosures also are required:
EFFECTIVE DATE
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
One implementation issue relates to the impracticability exception. According to the new statement, a company must make “every reasonable effort” to apply a change in accounting principle retrospectively before concluding it cannot determine the effects of the change. Yet, FASB has not clearly defined “reasonable effort.” CPAs and their employers or clients will have to use their professional judgment. If CPAs cannot estimate restated amounts in prior periods due to inadequate records—as might happen with a change in inventory valuation method—retrospective application should be used starting with the first period practicable.
The new standard likely will increase the number of accounting changes applied retrospectively. As a result CPAs will need to carefully word the disclosure of why the company is restating prior periods. Restatement for an error correction or SEC-mandated adjustment sends a significantly different message from that of a discretionary change in accounting principle; some investors or analysts could confuse retrospective application of an accounting change with restatements stemming from errors or fraud. Exhibit 3 illustrates the retrospective application of a change in accounting principle. Exhibit 4 , below, illustrates the reporting for an accounting change when determining the cumulative effect for all prior years is not practicable.
SOME CONTROVERSY REMAINS Then there is the provision that companies can implement retrospective application in a limited form. If it is not practicable to determine either the period-specific or cumulative effect of the change on prior years, the company may apply the new principle prospectively as of the earliest date practicable. Some fear the impracticability exception could produce false comparability—users may believe they are comparing financial information prepared on the same basis when actually, companies may have retrospectively applied a new accounting principle differently based simply on their ability to do so.
LEARNING CURVE
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Glossary of
Key Terms Accounting change. A change in an accounting principle, an accounting estimate or the reporting entity. Change in accounting principle. A change from one generally accepted accounting principle to another when there are two or more such principles that apply or when the principle formerly used is no longer generally accepted. A change in the method of applying an accounting principle also is considered a change in accounting principle. Change in accounting estimate. A change that has the effect of adjusting the carrying amount of an existing asset or liability or altering the subsequent accounting for existing or future assets or liabilities. A change in accounting estimate is a necessary consequence of the assessment, in conjunction with the periodic presentation of financial statements, of the present status and expected future benefits and obligations associated with assets and liabilities. Changes in accounting estimates result from new information. Change in accounting estimate effected by a change in accounting principle. A change in accounting estimate that is inseparable from the effect of a related change in accounting principle. Change in reporting entity. A change that results in financial statements that effectively are those of a different reporting entity. Direct effects of a change in accounting principle. Recognized changes in assets or liabilities necessary to effect a change in accounting principle. Error in previously issued financial statements. An error in recognition, measurement, presentation or disclosure in financial statements resulting from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of GAAP or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial statements were prepared. Indirect effects of a change in accounting principle. Any changes to current or future cash flows of an entity that result from making a change in accounting principle that is applied retrospectively. Restatement. The process of revising previously issued financial statements to reflect the correction of an error in those statements. Retrospective application. Applying a different accounting principle to one or more previously issued financial statements, or to the statement of financial position at the beginning of the current period, as if that principle had always been used, or a change to financial statements of prior accounting periods to present the statements of a new reporting entity as if it had existed in those prior years. |
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