This is the final approved Statement of Federal …

1 This is the final approved Statement of Federal FinancialAccounting Standards (SFFAS) 8, Supplementary StewardshipReporting.**FASAB -- Federal Accounting Standards AdvisoryBoard**Supplementary stewardship Reporting, Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 8**[From Inside Front Cover]THE Federal ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ADVISORY BOARD(FASAB) The Federal Accounting Standards AdvisoryBoard (FASAB or "the Board") was established inOctober 1990 by the Secretary of the Treasury, theDirector of the Office of Management and Budget(OMB), and the Comptroller General. The nine-member Board was created to consider and recommendaccounting principles for the Federal Government. The Board communicates its recommendations bypublishing recommended accounting standards afterconsidering the financial and budgetaryinformation needs of congressional oversightgroups, executive agencies, and other users ofFederal financial information.

2 The Board alsoconsiders comments from the public on its proposedrecommendations, which are published for commentsas "exposure drafts." The Board's sponsors thendecide whether to adopt the recommendations. Ifthey do, the standard is published by OMB and GAOand then becomes effective. The following documents related to theestablishment and mission of the Board areavailable from the FASAB:This is the original Standard file; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at -- "Memorandum of Understanding among theGeneral Accounting Office, the Department of theTreasury, and the Office of Management and Budget,on Federal Government Accounting Standards and aFederal Accounting Standards Advisory Board" -- "Mission Statement : Federal AccountingStandards Advisory Board"**a The purpose of this Statement is to establish standards forreporting on the Federal Government's stewardship over 1) certainresources entrusted to it, identified as stewardship property,plant, and equipment and stewardship investments, and 2) certainresponsibilities assumed by it, identified as the current serviceassessment.

3 The resources and responsibilities do not meet thecriteria for assets and liabilities that are required to bereported in the financial statements but are, nonetheless,important to an understanding of the operations and financialcondition of the Federal Government at the date of the financialstatements and in subsequent periods. Because the Government hasbeen entrusted with, and made accountable for, these resourcesand responsibilities, they should be recognized in the financialreports of the Federal Government and of its component determination was made to more fully satisfy the stewardshipobjective defined in the concepts Statement , Objectives ofFederal Financial Reporting.[FN1-Objectives of Federal FinancialReporting, SFFAC No. 1, September 1993.]b The stewardship objective requires that the FederalGovernment "report on the broad outcomes of its actions.

4 " Suchreporting will provide information that could help report usersassess the impact of the Government's operations and activitiesfor the period on its financial condition.[FN2-Ibid., pp. 41-42.]c stewardship resources involve substantial investment by theFederal Government for the benefit of the Nation. When made, theyare treated as expenses in the financial statements. Theseexpenses, however, are intended to provide long-term benefits tothe public. Therefore, this Statement requires that informationon these resources be reported to highlight their long-term-benefit nature and to demonstrate accountability over on the nature of the resources, stewardship reportingcould consist of financial and nonfinancial This Statement also establishes a standard for reportingThis is the original Standard file.

5 Please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at that will aid in assessing the sufficiency of futurebudgetary resources to sustain public services and meetobligations as they come Given the above purpose, this Statement establishesstandards for supplementary stewardship reporting that are on thebasis of categories defined in the paragraphs that stewardship Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) -propertyowned by the Federal Government and meeting the definition of oneof the following three categories: -- Heritage Assets - property, plant, and equipmentofhistorical, natural, cultural, educational, or artisticsignificance. -- Federal Mission PP&E - property, plant, andequipmentintegral to certain unique Federal missions. -- stewardship Land - land other than that acquiredfor orin connection with general PP& stewardship Investments - items treated as expenses incalculating net cost but meriting special treatment to highlighttheir substantial investment and long-term-benefit nature.

6 Thisincludes: -- Nonfederal Physical Property - grants provided forproperties financed by the Federal Government, but owned by thestate and local governments. -- Costs incurred for education and training programsthatare designed to increase or maintain national economic productivecapacity and research efforts to provide future benefits orreturns. These include: - Human Capital - education and trainingprogramsfinanced by the Federal Government for the benefit of the public. - Research and Development - basic andThis is the original Standard file; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at and stewardship Responsibilities - the projected financialimpact on the Government of sustaining current services that itprovides.

7 Projections of current services provided by theGovernment aid in assessing the sufficiency of future budgetaryresources to sustain public services and meet obligations as theycome due. This assessment, termed a Current Services Assessment,provides receipt and outlay data on the basis of projections offuture All stewardship information is deemed "requiredsupplementalstewardship information" (RSSI). Audit requirements for RSSI willbe established in a collaborative effort by the Office ofManagement and Budget (OMB) and the General Accounting Office(GAO).k The introduction and background chapter of this standardprovides information on the approaches used to develop thestandards for supplementary stewardship reporting. Appendicesinclude a basis for the Board's conclusions, sample stewardshipreports, and a glossary of terms used in the Statement .

8 First-time use of glossary terms within the body of this documentappear in boldface.**Executive Summary - para. iChapter 1: Introduction and Background - 2: Standard - Heritage Assets - para. 43 Chapter 3: Standard - Federal Mission Property, Plant, andEquipment - para. 52 Chapter 4: Standard - stewardship Land - para. 71 Chapter 5: Standard - Nonfederal Physical Property - para. 83 Chapter 6: Standard - Human Capital - para. 89 Chapter 7: Standard - Research and Development - para. 96 Chapter 8: Standard - Current Services Assessment - para. 102 This is the original Standard file; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at A: Basis for Conclusions - para. 109 Appendix B: Sample stewardship Reporting - not includedAppendix C: Glossary - follows para. 135**Purpose1 The purpose of this Statement is to establish standards forreporting on the Federal Government's stewardship over certainresources entrusted to it, and certain responsibilities assumedby it.

9 The resources and responsibilities relate to those whichdo not meet the criteria for assets and liabilities that arerequired to be reported in the financial statements but that areimportant to an understanding of the operations and financialcondition of the Federal Government at the date of the financialstatements and in subsequent periods. Costs of these stewardship -type resources are treated as expenses in the financialstatements in the year the costs are incurred. However, thesecosts and resultant resources are intended to provide long-termbenefits to the public and are included in stewardship reportingto highlight for the reader their long-term-benefit nature and todemonstrate accountability over Specific descriptions of these stewardship -type resourcesare addressed later in this chapter and in the individualstandards (chapters 2-7) in this Statement .

10 Generally, stewardship reporting on these resources includes: -- Information on investment in physical capitalotherthan that used to support Federal operations to provide goods andservices to the public, that is, investment in other than generalproperty, plant, and equipment (PP&E)[FN3-Physical assetssupporting Federal operations to provide goods and services tothe public, referred to as general property, plant and equipment(PP&E), are addressed in Accounting for Property, Plant andEquipment, SFFAS No. 6.]. -- Information on investment in other than physicalcapital. Such information, as well as the information called forin the paragraph above, will be reported for stewardship purposeson an investment basis (that is, as benefitting more than theThis is the original Standard file; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at reporting period) rather than a consumption basis (thatis, as benefitting only the current reporting period).