Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF)
General Information
The Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) was formed in 1984 in response to the recommendations of the FASB's task force on timely financial reporting guidance and an FASB Invitation to Comment on those recommendations. The mission of the EITF is to assist the FASB in improving financial reporting through the timely identification, discussion, and resolution of financial accounting issues within the framework of existing authoritative literature.
The EITF was designed to promulgate implementation guidance within the framework of existing authoritative literature to reduce diversity in practice on a timely basis. The EITF was designed to minimize the need for the FASB to spend time and effort addressing narrow implementation, application, or other emerging issues that can be analyzed within existing GAAP.
Task Force members are drawn from a cross section of the FASB’s constituencies, including auditors, preparers, and users of financial statements. The chief accountant or the deputy chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission attends Task Force meetings regularly as an observer with the privilege of the floor. Similar privilege is granted to the chairman (or a designate) of the Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) of the AICPA, and to a designate of the IASB. Russell G. Golden, FASB’s Technical Director, is chairman of the Task Force. FASB Board members also attend EITF meetings and participate in the discussion.
Make-up of the Task Force is designed to include persons in a position to be aware of emerging issues before they become widespread and before divergent practices become entrenched. Therefore, if the group can reach a consensus on an issue, usually that is taken by the FASB as an indication that no Board action is needed. If the Task Force is unable to reach a consensus, it may be an indication that action by the FASB is necessary. A consensus on an EITF issue is reached if no more than three of the voting members present at the meeting object to a proposed position on an issue and only after that position has been exposed for public comment as a consensus-for-exposure that was ratified by the Board. Although FASB Board members do not vote on consensuses at Task Force meetings, all consensuses are subject to ratification by the FASB at an ensuing open public meeting of the Board. Consensuses are ratified if no more than three Board members object.
Meetings of the Task Force are open to the public and generally are well attended. Because interest in the activities of the Task Force is high, the FASB has separate services and products for keeping up to date on the issues. EITF Abstracts is a summary of the proceedings of the Task Force and includes a separate abstract for each issue considered by the EITF since its inception, plus a topical index. EITF Abstracts is published in a loose-leaf format that is updated after each Task Force meeting. EITF Abstracts also is available as a soft-bound edition updated annually in a two-volume set. In addition, EITF Abstracts is included in the FASB's Financial Accounting Research System (FARS), available on CD-ROM.
Effective June 2004, all meeting materials and meeting minutes are posted to the FASB website and may be dowloaded at no charge. Previous issue summaries and minutes are available individually (by Issue number or meeting date, respectively) for a fee by contacting the FASB Order Department at 800-748-0659. Copies of the issue summaries and minutes are also available as part of a combined subscription plan that includes EITF Abstracts. Contact FASB Order Department.
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