FASB moves another step forward with private company financial statement standards project

FASB just published their preliminary staff findings on potential improvements in standards for private company financials in FASB in Focus: Private Companies: The Path to a Differential Standard-Setting Framework.

The FEI Financial Reporting Blog, one of the best sources for objective commentary on the FASB's actions, offers this insight: “The FAF has thus far received over 1,100 comment letters on this subject,” says Edith Orenstein (Financial Executives International).

While a large portion of the comment letters agree with the Blue Ribbon Panel's recommendation to form a new standards-setting board for private companies, others  believe  "that the users of private company financial statements do not have the same needs as users of public company financial statements (such as analysts), are not supportive of the wholesale creation of a new standards board for private companies, preferring instead other approaches, including formation of a new advisory group to FASB regarding private company accounting,” Orenstein remarks.