Governmental Accounting Standards Board voted unanimously on Monday not to delay the implementation of Statement 68, which affects how governments report their pension fund liabilities, said John C. Pappas, spokesman for the Financial Accounting Foundation, which oversees GASB.
The new statement, “Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions,” will still take effect for reporting periods after June 15. It requires governments that provide defined benefit plans for their employees to include pension liabilities on their financial statements.
According to an FAF news release, groups representing governments with DB plans called for a delay until “related auditing procedures have been implemented for a sufficient period.”
“The GASB is committed to doing everything it can to assist governments, pension plans and their auditors with the implementation of Statement 68, including working with stakeholder groups,” said David A. Vaudt, GASB chairman, in the news release. “However, the board does not believe that delaying implementation will benefit its stakeholders in general.”
GASB had announced Statement 68 in June 2012, along with Statement 67, “Financial Reporting for Pension Plans.” Statement 67 took effect on June 15, 2013.
