FASAB Issues Fiscal Sustainability Disclosure Requirements

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) issued a standard that furthers one of the standard setter’s federal financial reporting objectives—the stewardship objective—by enabling readers to determine whether future budgetary resources will sufficiently sustain public services and meet obligations as they come due. Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) 36, Reporting Comprehensive Long-Term Fiscal Projections for the U.S. Government, will be fully implemented by fiscal year 2013. Starting in 2010 all information may be presented as required supplementary disclosures.

SFFAS 36 will standardize reporting of projected trends in the federal budget deficit or surplus and the federal debt and how these amounts relate to the national economy and will require the projections to be more reader-friendly. If an excess of projected spending over projected receipts is indicated by the projections, the required reporting would explain and illustrate the likely impact of delaying action, for example, the progressive increase in the change that would be needed by (1) reducing spending, or (2) increasing receipts.