Stealth change in OCI delayed

 

As was reported on in a prior post, the FASB adopted a new presentation requirement for Other Comprehensive Income (OCI).  The move basically eliminated one of the previously acceptable ways to present OCI.  No big deal, right?

What I missed was that the FASB required a “roll forward” on OCI, which had not been required before.  ASU No. 2011-05 requires line items showing the amounts reclassified from OCI to net income.  This has apparently taken a lot of preparers by surprise as well.  From WG&L Accounting & Compliance Alert on Checkpoint:

“FASB project manager Patricia Donoghue said companies have complained about the difficulty they would have presenting the reclassification adjustments and showing the effect of the reclassifications on both the components of OCI and net income in quarterly and annual statements… Donoghue also said the adjustments are particularly difficult for bigger companies with multiple divisions. For example, there may be expense items reported in OCI that relate to pension costs. Some of the expense will get capitalized as part of labor costs. When the items get capitalized, they are not tracked separately, she said. When the labor costs ultimately get to the net income statement through the line for inventory expenses, companies can’t break that out. However, Donoghue said investors think the presentation requirements are very important…”

As a result of this, the FASB is proposing to delay the reclassification presentation requirements.  The other parts of the update, specifically the elimination of one of the previous disclosure options, will still take effect as planned.

View the original article here