Governmental Newsletter May 2020: GASB Postpones Effective Dates of Certain Pronouncements

At its Board Meeting yesterday, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) approved the issuance of Statement No. 95, Postponement of the Effective Dates of Certain Authoritative Guidance.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Statement 95 will provide relief to governments by postponing the effective dates of several GASB Statements and Implementation Guides.  The final standard approved by GASB was unchanged from the Exposure Draft (ED) issued on April 14, 2020 with one key difference – the effective date of GASB Statement No. 87, Leases, was postponed by 18 months instead of the original 12 months in the ED.

The requirements of the following Statements and Implementation Guides are effective as indicated:

1. Statement 83—reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2019
2. Statement 84 and Implementation Guide 2019-2—reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019
3. Statement 87 and Implementation Guide 2019-3—fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021, and all reporting periods thereafter
4. Statement 88—reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2019
5. Statement 89—reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2020
6. Statement 90—reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019
7. Statement 91—reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2021
8. Statement 92, paragraphs 6 and 7—fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021
9. Statement 92, paragraphs 8, 9, and 12—reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2021
10. Statement 92, paragraph 10—government acquisitions occurring in reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2021
11. Statement 93, paragraphs 13 and 14—fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021, and all reporting periods thereafter
12. Implementation Guide 2017-3, Questions 4.484 and 4.491—the first reporting period in which the measurement date of the (collective) net OPEB liability is on or after June 15, 2019
13. Implementation Guide 2017-3, Questions 4.85, 4.103, 4.108, 4.109, 4.225, 4.239, 4.244, 4.245, and 5.1–5.4—actuarial valuations as of December 15, 2018, or later
14. Implementation Guide 2018-1—reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2019
15. Implementation Guide 2019-1—reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2020.

Earlier application of the provisions in the above Statements and Implementation Guides is encouraged and is permitted to the extent specified in each pronouncement as originally issued.

The GASB did not postpone the other provisions of Statement 93 or Statement No. 94, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships and Availability Payment Arrangements, because the pandemic was factored into the establishment of the effective dates for those pronouncements.

As a reminder, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GASB has provided a number of resources for stakeholders, including an emergency toolbox, on its website at www.gasb.org/COVID19.