Annual Update for Accountants and Auditors: 2020

Chapter 2FASB Accounting Standards Updates — Narrow Issues

Learning objective

• Identify recently issued FASB Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) that cover narrow issues.

This chapter presents ASUs that are very specific in nature, many of which originated with the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF). These ASUs typically deal with very specific transactions or industry-specific issues.

The ASUs covered in this chapter are those that have effective dates in 2018 or later. Therefore, several ASUs issued in prior years are included in this chapter. Effective dates for public business entities are frequently different than those for other entities.

FASB ASU No. 2017-06, Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Plans (Topic 962), Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965): Employee Benefit Plan Master Trust Reporting (a consensus of the Emerging Issues Task Force)

Why was this ASU issued?

This update was issued to improve the usefulness of the information reported to users of employee benefit plan financial statements and to provide clarity to preparers and auditors. It relates primarily to the reporting by an employee benefit plan for its interest in a master trust. A master trust is a trust for which a regulated institution serves as a trustee or custodian and in which assets of more than one plan sponsored by a single employer or a by a group of employers under common control are held.

Many stakeholders found the master trust disclosure requirements ...