FASAB News, Issue 67, April-May 2001

As reported in the last edition of the FASAB News, at the Board's February meeting, it had voiced broad support for the proposals of the KPMG study undertaken for the Department of Defense entitled, "Report on the Evaluation of National Defense PP&E [property, plant, & equipment] Reporting Approaches." In the report, KPMG had recommended:

• reporting the units and condition of Major End Items (e.g., aircraft, ships, and combat vehicles) in FY 2002 (Phase 1);
• capitalizing Major End Items without depreciating them; and capitalizing and depreciating Other National Defense PP&E (e.g., intelligence and communication systems, and specific support equipment) beginning in FY 2006 (Phase 2); and
• disclosing investment data for the ten largest acquisition programs.

At the April Board meeting, staff presented a draft exposure draft incorporating the above proposals. The draft also included the following proposals (for periods beginning in FY 2006) that the Board had requested:

• recognizing the total estimated cleanup cost as part of the acquisition cost when Major End Items are placed in service; and
• recognizing a portion of the estimated total cleanup cost as an expense during each period that Other National Defense PP&E is in operation.

The Board asked staff to make additional revisions and will review the revised draft exposure draft at the June Board meeting.

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In the last edition of FASAB News, we reported that at its February meeting, after considering responses to a November 2000 exposure draft, the Board had approved eliminating paragraph 65.2 of SFFAS 7. Paragraph 65.2 requires the disclosure of material revenue-related transactions affecting the beginning and end-of-period balances of accounts receivables, accounts payable for refunds, and the allowance for uncollectible amounts.

At its April meeting, staff presented the Board with a draft standard eliminating paragraph 65.2. The Board asked staff to modify the basis for conclusions and prepare a final standard for balloting. The Board expects to vote on the standard in the next several weeks.

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FASAB received 29 comment letters on Preliminary Views from the following sources: 16 preparers (all Federal), 8 auditors (3 nonfederal) and 5 "others.

Most respondents would retain the Required Supplementary Stewardship Information (RSSI) category, at least for now. Six support the proposal to delete it. Three of those six, including the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, specified that the RSSI items should be reclassified only as Required Supplemental Information (RSI). Two of the six expressed the caveat that "basic" status for some RSSI items would create problems. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants did not express a preference about whether the RSSI category should be retained or eliminated, but suggested that extensive work and consultation over time, perhaps including changes to existing standards, would be necessary if some RSSI items were to be treated as "basic information" rather than as RSI.

On April 27, 2001, FASAB held a public hearing on its proposal to eliminate the RSSI category. The speakers’ views were similar to those expressed in the written comment letters. The Board members’ discussion with the speakers was highly informative. Some members repeatedly challenged the view that stewardship information could not be effectively presented and audited in the context of a reporting model without the special RSSI category. A transcript of the hearing will be available for review at FASAB’s office, as are the comment letters. If you wish to purchase a copy of the transcript, please contact Charles Jackson at 202 512-7352 for information.

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…and just when you thought you had your e-address book up to date!

In our last issue, we reported that the General Accounting Office upgraded some of its network capabilities, including its email system. As a result, since FASAB occupies space on the General Accounting Office's network, the "FASAB" portion of our email addresses had been temporarily changed from

Thanks to excellent support from the General Accounting Office's computer team, the FASAB staff's email addresses have been changed to reflect FASAB's rights to the "FASAB.gov" domain. Our new email addresses now take the format:

Currently, we have been able to receive email in all three formats -- but this is only temporary. So, please update your e-address books to reflect the FASAB staff's new email addresses. We regret this inconvenience.

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As with all meeting minutes, there will be a lag time from formulating the draft minutes to finalizing the minutes. During this time, if you have questions on a project, please feel free to call or email the staff member point of contact.

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