FASB issues statement on accounting changes and error corrections.

• Position: Accounting & auditing news

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued Statement No. 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections, a replacement of APB Opinion No. 20 and FASB Statement No. 3. The statement (available from www.fasb.org) applies to all voluntary changes in accounting principle, and changes the requirements for accounting for and reporting of a change in accounting principle.

Statement 154 requires retrospective application to prior periods' financial statements of a voluntary change in accounting principle unless it is impracticable. Opinion 20 previously required that most voluntary changes in accounting principle be recognized by including in net income of the period of the change the cumulative effect of changing to the new accounting principle. According to the FASB, Statement 154 improves financial reporting because its requirements enhance the consistency of financial information between periods.

The statement is the result of a broader effort by the FASB to improve the comparability of cross-border financial reporting by working with the International Accounting Standards Board toward development of a single set of high-quality accounting standards. Consequently, the FASB decided to...