By Margaret Karren
On April 22 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an exposure draft which would significantly change the existing not-for-profit financial reporting model. Comments are due by August 20, 2015.
I decided to try making a comment to see how the process worked. I went on to the FASB.org website; it took a couple of tries to get to the right place. Here is how:
- Click on the Projects tab at the top on the page
- Go to Exposure Documents
- At the end of the list is the Proposed Accounting Standards Update for Not-for-Profits
- Select that and then select the Electronic Feedback Form
They will ask for your contact information, are you a preparer, CPA, etc. Select “Next” and you will be asked 22 questions. The first couple are about underwater endowments – don’t worry, you can skip any of the questions that you don’t want to comment on. You can also save the form and go back to read the referenced section.
It took about 45 minutes for me to make about 18 comments, but this could take more or less time, depending on the number of comments that you want to make.
Overall it was easy to do, the electronic form was simple to complete, and I have now officially done my first comment letter to the FASB.
About Margaret Karren (Partner at GHJ)
Margaret has over 20 years of experience at the firm and more than 10 years in private industry as a controller. She works exclusively on nonprofit clients. Margaret also sits on the board of several nonprofit organizations, including the California Hospital Medical Center Foundation and is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on nonprofit issues.
