Statement No. 65
Items Previously Reported as Assets and Liabilities
(Issued 03/12)
This Statement establishes accounting and financial reporting standards that reclassify, as deferred outflows of resources or deferred inflows of resources, certain items that were previously reported as assets and liabilities and recognizes, as outflows of resources or inflows of resources, certain items that were previously reported as assets and liabilities.
Concepts Statement No. 4, Elements of Financial Statements, introduced and defined the elements included in financial statements, including deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources. In addition, Concepts Statement 4 provides that reporting a deferred outflow of resources or a deferred inflow of resources should be limited to those instances identified by the Board in authoritative pronouncements that are established after applicable due process. Prior to the issuance of this Statement, only two such pronouncements have been issued. Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments, requires the reporting of a deferred outflow of resources or a deferred inflow of resources for the changes in fair value of hedging derivative instruments, and Statement No. 60, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Service Concession Arrangements, requires a deferred inflow of resources to be reported by a transferor government in a qualifying service concession arrangement. This Statement amends the financial statement element classification of certain items previously reported as assets and liabilities to be consistent with the definitions in Concepts Statement 4.
This Statement also provides other financial reporting guidance related to the impact of the financial statement elements deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources, such as changes in the determination of the major fund calculations and limiting the use of the term deferred in financial statement presentations.
The provisions of this Statement are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2012. Earlier application is encouraged.
How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Financial Reporting
The requirements of this Statement will improve financial reporting by clarifying the appropriate use of the financial statement elements deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources to ensure consistency in financial reporting.
Unless otherwise specified, pronouncements of the GASB apply to financial reports of all state and local governmental entities, including general purpose governments; public benefit corporations and authorities; public employee retirement systems; and public utilities, hospitals and other healthcare providers, and colleges and universities. Paragraph 3 discusses the applicability of this Statement.