Valuation Resource Group (VRG)

Last Updated: March 24, 2011 (Updated sections are indicated with an asterisk *)

The staff has prepared this summary of Board decisions for information purposes only. Those Board decisions are tentative and do not change current accounting. Official positions of the FASB are determined only after extensive due process and deliberations.

*Objective
*Meeting Dates and Issues Discussed to Date
*Valuation Resource Group Members
*History and Background
Contact Information

*Objective

In step with its mission to improve and enhance the quality, consistency, and comparability of financial statements, the FASB continues to assess whether and to what extent additional and more specific valuation guidance is needed for financial reporting purposes beyond the guidance provided in Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification® (formerly FASB Statement No. 157). The Board seeks to solicit the views of its constituents through the formation of a resource group tasked with assisting the Board in matters involving valuation for financial reporting purposes.

The Valuation Resource Group (VRG) provides the Board and FASB staff with information on existing implementation issues related to fair value measurements used for financial statement reporting purposes and the alternative viewpoints that may be associated with those implementation issues. VRG meetings include a private session with FASB staff and a public session with the Board. The VRG does not make any authoritative decisions. Any authoritative decisions are subject to the FASB’s normal due process, including open deliberation by the Board.

*Meeting Dates and Issues Discussed to Date

*November 1, 2010 
  • Fair Value Measurement of Contingent Consideration in a Business Combination
  • Application of the Multiperiod Excess Earnings Method and the Greenfield Method to Intangible Assets
  • Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): How the Carrying Amount of a Reporting Unit Should Be Calculated When Performing Step 1 of the Goodwill Impairment Test
  • Proposed Measurement Uncertainty Analysis Disclosure and Possible Alternatives
April 12, 2010 
  • FASB/IASB Joint Project on Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure
  • Measurement of Leased Investment Properties
  • Measurement of Reacquired Rights in a Business Combination
  • Measurement of Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Other Accrued Liabilities
September 22, 2009 
  • Measurement of Core Deposits
  • Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurement 
  • IASB’s May 2009 Exposure Draft, Fair Value Measurement
  • Fair Value of Debt versus Par Value of Debt when Estimating the Fair Value of an Entity’s Equity
February 5, 2009 
  • SEC Study on Mark-to-Market Accounting
  • Proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 157-c, Measuring Liabilities Under FASB Statement No. 157
  • AICPA Draft Issues Paper, FASB Statement No. 157 Valuation Considerations for Interests in Alternative Investments
  • Goodwill Impairment Considerations
September 23, 2008 
  • IASB Expert Advisory Panel Paper: “Measuring and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments in markets that are no longer active”
  • Potential Additional Fair Value Disclosure Requirements
  • Observable versus Unobservable Inputs
  • Fair Value Measurement of Liabilities
  • Identification and Allocation of Market Participant Synergies
  • Allocation of In-Use Valuation to Individual Unit of Account
  • Fair Value of Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Other Accrued Liabilities in a Business Combination
  • Fair Value of Noncontrolling Interest and a Previously Held Equity Interest
May 8, 2008 
  • Observable versus Unobservable Fair Value Measurements in the Current Credit Environment
  • Determining Whether a Discount should be Applied for a Restriction on Sale
  • Employee Benefit Plans
  • Contingent Liabilities
February 1, 2008 
  • Highest and Best Use of Acquired Assets
  • Overlapping Customer Relationships
  • Use of Current Replacement Cost for Intangible Assets
  • Meaning of Legally Permissible in Assessing Highest and Best Use
  • Allocation of Portfolio Based Credit Adjustments for Hedge Effectiveness Testing
  • Fair Value of Inventory Acquired in a Business Combination
November 9, 2007 
  • Deferral of the Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157
  • Development of Market Participant Assumptions
  • Unit of Valuation/Exit Markets
  • Measurement of Liabilities
  • Applicability of Statement 157 to Plan Assets of Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
  • Use of Net Asset Value
  • Fair Value of a Liability with Third-Party Guarantees
  • Highest and Best Use – Land Example
  • Definition of Significant in Determining the Level in the Fair Value Hierarchy
  • Accounting for Transaction Costs in Determining the Fair Value of an Investment
October 1, 2007 
  • Fair Value of Mortgage Loans
  • Unit of Account – Decomposition of an Asset
  • Definition of Active Market
  • Determination of Principle Market
  • Highest and Best Use
  • Determination of Market Participants
  • Assets and Liabilities without Markets
  • Pension Plan Disclosures
  • Use of Net Asset Value
  

Valuation Resource Group Members

Paul Barnes (valuation)

Muneera Carr (preparer)

Don Charles (valuation)

Frank Ciccotto (valuation)

Michael DeLuke (valuation)

Wallace Enman (user)

Greg Forsythe (valuation)

Carla Glass (valuation)

Gordon Goodman (preparer)

Yassir Karam

David Larsen (preparer)

Jerry Mehm (valuation)

Andreas Ohl (accounting)

Amy Ripepi (accounting)

Richard Stuart (accounting)

Chris Thorne (valuation)


Gina Weaver (preparer)

Brenna Wist (accounting)

Observing Organizations:

SEC

PCAOB

IASB

AICPA

Federal Reserve Board of Governors
 

Duff & Phelps

Comerica Bank

Ernst & Young

Standard and Poor’s

Houlihan, Lokey, Howard, & Zukin

Moody’s Investors Services

Deloitte

Hill Schwartz Spilker Keller LLC

Occidental Petroleum

Clifton Gunderson

Duff & Phelps

American Appraisal

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Financial Reporting Advisors

McGladery & Pullen

International Valuation Standards Council

Pfizer

KPMG

 
*History and Background

In January 2007, the FASB issued an Invitation to Comment seeking views from constituents on (a) the need, if any, for valuation guidance related to the use of fair value measurements in financial reporting, (b) who should be involved in developing any such valuation guidance, and (c) the process and form of any such guidance-setting activities. Over 80 comment letters were received and posted to the FASB website. Additionally, the Board held a Public Roundtable on April 30, 2007 to enable constituents to elaborate on and discuss the issues raised in the Invitation to Comment. The Board issued a press release on June 21, 2007 announcing the formation of a resource group to address issues relating to valuation for financial reporting.


Contact Information
Ben Couch
Valuation Practice Fellow
bcouch@fasb.org

Emily Montgomery
Postgraduate Technical Assistant
emontgomery@fasb.org