Two GAAP alternatives for private companies have been released by FASB. The alternatives were created by the Private Company Council, or PCC. The alternatives are:
- FASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-02, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Accounting for Goodwill, permits a private company to subsequently amortize goodwill on a straight-line basis over a period of ten years, or less if the company demonstrates that another useful life is more appropriate. It also permits a private company to apply a simplified impairment model to goodwill. Goodwill is the residual asset recognized in a business combination after recognizing all other identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed.
- ASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-03, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Accounting for Certain Receive-Variable, Pay-Fixed Interest Rate Swaps—Simplified Hedge Accounting Approach, gives private companies—other than financial institutions—the option to use a simplified hedge accounting approach to account for interest rate swaps that are entered into for the purpose of economically converting variable-rate interest payments to fixed-rate payments.
The PCC determines alternatives to existing nongovernmental U.S. GAAP to address the needs of users of private company financial statements, based on criteria mutually agreed upon by the PCC and the FASB. Before being incorporated into U.S. GAAP, PCC recommendations will be subject to a FASB endorsement process. The PCC also serves as the primary advisory body to the FASB on the appropriate treatment for private companies for items under active consideration on the FASB’s technical agenda.
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