Private company lease accounting delay requested

An AICPA committee has asked FASB to delay the private company implementation date of its new lease accounting standard, citing overload for private company financial statement preparers.

The AICPA Private Companies Practice Section’s Technical Issues Committee (TIC) sent a letter recently to Shayne Kuhaneck, FASB’s acting technical director, asking for a delay. One of TIC’s objectives is to speak on behalf of local and regional firms, although TIC’s comments do not necessarily reflect the AICPA’s positions.

FASB’s new lease accounting standard took effect for public companies at the beginning of this year and is scheduled to be effective for private companies one year later, at the beginning of 2020. TIC’s letter notes that FASB’s Private Company Decision-Making Framework includes considerations for delaying the private company implementation for more than one year after the public company effective date.

The Associated General Contractors of America sent a letter with a similar request on May 3. FASB considers all unsolicited comment letters as part of its due process and will discuss at an upcoming meeting the request for a delay in the lease accounting standard, John Pappas, FASB’s senior manager for communications, said in an email.

TIC wrote that additional time should be given for the lease accounting standard because of the challenges associated with it, coupled with the work private companies also are doing to implement complex new standards for revenue recognition and credit losses.