GASB issues new statements, technical bulletin.

• Position: Accounting & auditing news - Governmental Accounting Standards Board

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recently issued two statements: Statement No. 43, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, and Statement No. 44, Economic Condition Reporting: the Statistical Section.

Regarding Statement No. 43, other postemployment benefits include healthcare and other nonpension benefits provided to employees as part of their compensation for services. The standards apply to OPEB plans that are included as trust funds in the financial reports of plan sponsors or employers, and to stand-alone financial reports of OPEB plans that are established as trusts, when issued by the public employee retirement systems, or other governmental entities that administer them. The statement also provides requirements for reporting of OPEB funds by administrators of multiple-employer OPEB plans, when the fund used is not a trust fund.

Statement No. 44 enhances and updates the statistical section that accompanies a state or local government's basic financial statements to reflect the significant changes that have taken place in government finance, including the more comprehensive government-wide financial information required by GASB Statement 34.

In addition, the GASB issued its Technical Bulletin No. 2004-1, Tobacco Settlement Recognition and Financial Reporting Entity...