FAF is Now Allowing You to Tattle on the FASB and GASB

The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) has given the financial reporting community an opportunity to raise potential concerns about compliance with the due-process procedures of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

Now available via the FAF website, stakeholders can flag for the FAF’s Oversight Committee alleged failures of either the FASB or the GASB to follow their due-process procedures as outlined in the FAF bylaws.

Those wishing to correspond with the FAF Oversight Committee will be required to have “reasonable specificity regarding an alleged failure by either board to follow due process on an authoritative standard-setting project. Ideally, it will cite the specific provisions of the bylaws that have allegedly been violated. Correspondence can be anonymous, but it will not be possible for committee members to direct any follow-up questions to anonymous authors,” the FAF said on April 26.

If the allegations raise meaningful due-process issues, the committee will investigate further, according to the FAF. If the committee determines the FASB or the GASB did not appropriately follow their due process, FAF trustees will decide what remedial action is necessary based on the circumstances.

“We believe adding this new procedure is a natural next step in strengthening the oversight process,” said FAF Trustee Timothy Ryan, co-chair of the Oversight Committee.

“Soliciting stakeholder perspectives has always been a vital part of our governance model, just as it is to FASB’s and GASB’s standard-setting processes,” added FAF Trustee David Lillard, co-chair of the Oversight Committee. “We want stakeholders to know they can communicate directly with the Oversight Committee if they have important concerns to share about how faithfully FASB and GASB members are following their due process.”

Stakeholders can find the new correspondence form on the FAF website. This form should only be used to address concerns about due process and is not to be used by stakeholders who are curious about the outcome or progress of a particular standard-setting project. Any such concerns should be addressed directly to the FASB or GASB through their normal stakeholder outreach channels, the FAF said.

In the FAF Strategic Plan published in 2022, one objective is to “continually review and assess our governance and oversight practices to ensure they align with our mission and vision, reflect best practices, and maintain the confidence of stakeholders in our role to oversee the independent standard-setting process.” The new correspondence form is the second major initiative FAF trustees have introduced in recent months consistent with this objective. Earlier this year, the trustees announced they will begin to livestream portions of future Oversight Committee meetings. The first livestream will take place on May 9 and will appear on the FAF website.