Accounting for Impairment of General Property, Plant, and ...

1 Statement of Federal financial Accounting Standards 44 January 3, 2013 Accounting for Impairment of General property , Plant, and Equipment Remaining in Use Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board This is the original Statement; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at THE FEDERAL Accounting STANDARDS ADVISORY BOARD The Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Comptroller General , established the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB or the Board ) in October 1990.

2 FASAB is responsible for promulgating Accounting standards for the United States government. These standards are recognized as generally accepted Accounting principles (GAAP) for the federal government. An Accounting standard is typically formulated initially as a proposal after considering the financial and budgetary information needs of citizens (including the news media, state and local legislators, analysts from private firms, academe, and elsewhere), Congress, federal executives, federal program managers, and other users of federal financial information.

3 The proposed standards are published in an exposure draft for public comment. In some cases, a discussion memorandum, invitation for comment, or preliminary views document may be published before an exposure draft is published on a specific topic. A public hearing is sometimes held to receive oral comments in addition to written comments. The Board considers comments and decides whether to adopt the proposed standard with or without modification. After review by the three officials who sponsor FASAB, the Board publishes adopted standards in a Statement of Federal financial Accounting Standards.

4 The Board follows a similar process for Statements of Federal financial Accounting Concepts, which guide the Board in developing Accounting standards and formulating the framework for federal Accounting and reporting. Additional background information is available from the FASAB or its website: Memorandum of Understanding among the Government Accountability Office, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Management and Budget, on Federal Government Accounting Standards and a Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board. Mission Statement: Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board , exposure drafts, Statements of Federal financial Accounting Standards and Concepts, FASAB newsletters, and other items of interest are posted on FASAB s website at: Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board 441 G Street, NW, Suite 6814 Mail stop 6K17V Washington, DC 20548 Telephone 202-512-7350 FAX 202-512-7366 This is a work of the U.

5 S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from FASAB. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. This is the original Statement; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at of Contents 3 _____ Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board Accounting for Impairment of General property , Plant, and Equipment Remaining in Use January 3, 20132 Table of Contents Summary.

6 4 Introduction .. 5 Purpose .. 5 Materiality .. 5 Effective Date .. 6 Standards .. 7 Scope and Applicability .. 7 Definition of Impairment .. 7 Identification of Potential Impairment Loss A Two-step Process .. 8 Determining the Appropriate Measurement Approach .. 11 Recognizing and Reporting Impairment Losses .. 14 Diminished Service Utility Without Recognized Impairment Loss .. 14 G-PP&E That No Longer Provides Service .. 15 Remediating Previously Reported Impairments .. 15 Recoveries .. 15 Consolidated financial Report of the Government.

7 15 Effective Date .. 15 Appendix A: Basis for 16 Table - Summary of Respondent Types to Exposure Draft .. 27 Appendix B: Flowcharts, Decision Table and Illustrations .. 31 Appendix C: Abbreviations .. 70 Appendix D: Glossary .. 71 This is the original Statement; please check for the most recent update in the FASAB Handbook at 4 _____ Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board Accounting for Impairment of General property , Plant, and Equipment Remaining in Use January 3, 20132 Summary This Statement establishes Accounting and financial reporting standards for Impairment of General property , plant, and equipment (G-PP&E) remaining in use, except for internal use software.

8 G-PP&E is considered impaired when there is a significant and permanent decline in the service utility of G-PP&E or expected service utility for construction work in progress. A decline is permanent when management has no reasonable expectation that the lost service utility will be replaced or restored. 1 This Statement does not anticipate that entities will have to establish additional or separate procedures beyond those that may already exist, such as those related to deferred maintenance and repairs, to search for impairments. Impairments can be identified and brought to management s attention in a variety of ways.

9 Although a presumption exists that there are existing processes and internal controls in place to reasonably assure identification and communication of potential material impairments, this Statement does not require entities to conduct an annual or other periodic survey solely for the purpose of applying these standards. Management may determine that existing processes and internal controls are not sufficient to reasonably assure identification of potential material impairments and implement appropriate additional processes and internal controls.

10 Entity management should consider documenting the decisions it makes while determining how to implement the requirements of this Statement. Such decisions should include consideration of materiality. Materiality considerations should include an assessment of the impact to the cost of service(s) before and after the Impairment . Recognition of Impairment losses is dependent upon a two-step process that entails (a) identifying potential impairments and (b) testing for Impairment . The losses should be reasonably estimated by determining the portion of the decline in the net book value of the G-PP&E attributable to the lost service utility.