ACADEMICS AND THE GASB
We are grateful for the involvement of our colleagues in the academic community, who provide a unique perspective, one that is informed by their research training and experience, interaction with students, and engagement with the accounting profession.
We invite academics to engage in the standard-setting process and to participate in one or more of the following activities:
- Learn about the GASB Postgraduate Technical Assistant Program and the nomination process
- Submit academic research to the GASB
- Learn about the Gil Crain Memorial Research Grant Program
- Register for the Not-for-Profit and Governmental Accounting Webcast for Academics
- Schedule a student visit and learn more about how we set standards.
IN FOCUS: Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting Webcast for Academics
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are pleased to announce their joint webcast providing an update for college and university accounting and public administration educators and researchers on recent developments in GASB and FASB standards. The areas covered will include an update on both GASB and FASB activities with a focus on topics that are relevant for teaching and research activities.The webcast will feature Tammy Waymire, GASB Senior Research Manager, Jeffrey D. Mechanick, FASB Assistant Director and Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee (NAC) Chairman, and Jeff Gabello, FASB Supervising Project Manager.
Register Now
Friday, October 20, 2023
1:30 – 3:10 pm EDT
The speakers will provide an update on both GASB and FASB activities, discuss current teaching issues, and identify timely research topics in a variety of areas.
Participants will be able to submit questions during the live webcast and download presentation slides.
We hope you will join us for this special event. Please consider sharing this information with other colleagues in academia.
HOW DOES ACADEMIC RESEARCH CONTRIBUTE TO STANDARDS SETTING?
Standards setting is an outreach- and research-based activity. The GASB conducts extensive literature reviews (including reviewing the work of other standards setters) and studies the preparation and use of state and local government financial reports. A decision by the Board to establish standards is based on a determination, through research and due process activities, that a strong need for information exists among the users of financial statements and that the information can be provided at what is perceived to be a reasonable cost.However, the GASB technical staff is relatively small—typically about 20 people. Therefore, from its inception in 1984, the GASB has sought to engage the academic community in conducting research that contributes to the GASB’s standards-setting activities. For more than 30 years, such research efforts have resulted in articles in peer-reviewed journals and professional periodicals, GASB research reports, and GASB research briefs.
The contributions of academic research are valuable to every stage of the GASB’s activities: identifying issues that may require standards setting, conducting pre-agenda research, developing proposed and final pronouncements, and monitoring implementation of new standards.
Identifying Standards-Setting Issues
Through their research and their connections with financial statement preparers, auditors, and users in the field, academics become aware of issues arising in practice that may require standards setting. Academics notify the GASB about such issues either directly or through the academic members of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council.Pre-Agenda Research
All concepts projects and major projects and many practice issue projects on the GASB’s current technical agenda are preceded by extensive research activities conducted by the GASB’s technical staff. The GASB’s review of existing literature encompasses the research of academics that is published in journals, presented at academic conferences, and issued as reports of research centers. Academic research helps to inform the GASB about the nature of a potential accounting and financial reporting issue, the significance and pervasiveness of the issue, and the possibility of developing feasible solutions.Standards Setting
Research activities do not always cease at the time the GASB adds a new standards-setting project to its current technical agenda. When issues arise during Board deliberations that require additional research, the technical staff will look for existing relevant academic research, and may engage academics to conduct new research. Academics also lend their expertise to standards setting by commenting on proposed standards and sharing research findings that are germane to the topic.Monitoring Implementation
The GASB is committed to monitoring practice to address issues that may arise during the implementation of new standards and to ensure that its standards continue to be effective. Academics contribute to these efforts in at least four ways. First, through their connection to practice, academics make the GASB aware of implementation issues as they arise. Second, they serve on advisory groupsthat advise the GASB as it develops question-and-answer implementation guidance for new and existing pronouncements. Third, they conduct research that focuses on the implementation of standards and its impact on governments and the usefulness of information available to users. Lastly, they participate in surveys and other research conducted by the GASB as part of its post-implementation monitoring activities.
HOW DOES THE GASB SUPPORT ACADEMIC RESEARCH?
The GASB provides both financial and nonfinancial support to academics conducting research that is relevant to standards setting.Each year, the GASB awards one or more research grants through the Gilbert W. Crain Memorial Research Grant program. The grants support research on existing standards and studies of issues that have not been addressed in existing standards. The annual request for proposals typically is posted to the GASB website in March, with a submission deadline at the end of May and a decision on grant awards by the end of June. Click here for a list of past Crain Grant recipients.
Apart from grants, the GASB provides support to relevant research through a variety of means. Academics can be provided with access to GASB staff members, often those that led the projects resulting in the standards being studied. The GASB may be able to help by introducing academics to knowledgeable professionals and encouraging those individuals to participate in their research, as well as connecting academics with the leadership of relevant stakeholder organizations. The GASB staff can answer questions about the research that preceded standards setting and explain in greater detail the thinking behind the provisions of GASB standards. The GASB also may be able to furnish academics with databases it developed and financial reports it collected during its research.
The GASB also occasionally partners with academics on a research effort, including co-authoring articles for academic and professional journals and papers for presentation at academic conferences.
The GASB encourages its grant recipients and other academics with whom it conducts research to submit the results of their research for publication in a journal after the research results have been submitted to the GASB. Because the research that is most useful to the GASB is applied research, we support work that is part of a larger research effort. Therefore, the GASB generally supports academics gathering additional data that would be needed for publication.
If you have an idea for research that would benefit the GASB or are seeking the GASB’s assistance with your research, please contact Tammy Waymire, senior research manager and the GASB liaison to the academic community, at 203-956-5376 or twaymire@gasb.org.
HOW ARE ACADEMICS INVOLVED IN STANDARD SETTING?
In addition to conducting relevant research, academics are an important voice throughout the standard-setting process.- Academics are represented on the Board (click here for a list of GASB members with academic affiliations).
- Academics are represented on the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council through members nominated by the American Accounting Association and the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management.
- Academics participate in the GASB’s pre-agenda research by responding to surveys and taking part in roundtables and interviews conducted by the GASB.
- Academics serve on task forces and consultative groups that advise standards-setting projects and pre-agenda research activities, respectively.
- Academics submit comments on proposed standards, either individually or through the Government & Nonprofit Section of the American Accounting Association.
- Academics testify at public hearings and participate in user forums related to proposed standards.
WHAT GASB RESEARCH AND TEACHING RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE?
The GASB publishes materials and offer services that support academic research and teaching and keep stakeholders up-to-date about the latest pronouncements and standards-setting activities. Virtually all GASB publications are available to download or access electronically for no charge.Governmental Accounting Research System—GARS
GARS provides efficient and effective access to all the necessary governmental accounting literature and has been demonstrated to significantly reduce research time. GARS provides all of the GASB’s official literature in a searchable format: (1) the GASB’s Statements and other pronouncements (including Implementation Guides) in their original versions, with indications of the portions that have been amended or superseded since, and (2) the Codification of all guidance in its current and effective version.
Annual Bound Volumes
The Original Pronouncements, Codification, and Comprehensive Implementation Guide are annually updated and published in printed form to include the most recent GASB pronouncements. Original Pronouncements presents standards for state and local governments comprising generally accepted accounting principles as they were originally published, indicating the portions that have been amended or superseded. The Codification arranges currently effective standards by subject. The Comprehensive Implementation Guide pulls together and updates all previously issued question-and-answer guides, as well as guidance for other standards. All three contain detailed topical indexes and can be purchased individually or in discounted packages.Final Pronouncements and Due Process Documents
All Statements and other final pronouncements, as well as proposed standards and other due process documents, are available to be downloaded free from the GASB website. Proposed standards include sections that relate the background of the issue that led to the pronouncement and describe the rationale for the Board’s decisions. Those sections in final pronouncements also discuss the feedback received from stakeholders and how the Board addressed their concerns. Final pronouncements and due process documents can be valuable tools for teaching students about specific accounting and financial reporting issues and about the process by which standards are set.User Guide Series
The guides that make up the GASB’s user guide series are designed to be nontechnical and broadly accessible to anyone from the government finance novice to the long-time public manager. Three guides in the series provide a comprehensive but easy-to-read introduction to the annual financial reports of local governments (counties, cities, towns), public school districts, and business-type activities (such as utilities, hospitals, and colleges). A forth guide is aimed at persons with a basic knowledge of accounting and government finance: it explores how basic analytical techniques may be applied to the information in the financial statements to assess issues such as financial position, financial condition, liquidity, solvency, fiscal capacity, and exposure to risk. Each guide presents annotated illustrations; sidebars exploring issues raised in the text; tips on using financial statement information; easy identification of key terms defined in an exhaustive glossary; and an overview of public-sector accounting and financial reporting. The user guide series was revised and updated in 2017–2018. More Information.Plain-Language Articles
The GASB is committed to communicating about its standards and activities in nontechnical terms when possible. This often involves posting plain-language articles about recent pronouncements and proposals that succinctly and clearly describe what the documents require or propose to require and why. Some articles also explain the standards-setting process and how the public can participate in it. These articles are ideal for providing a quick overview of a topic. The GASB also publishes the quarterly GASB Outlook, which includes short articles, videos, and infographics about recent and ongoing developments at the GASB. Professors and students can sign up to automatically receive GASB Outlook and email news updates as documents are issued.Videos, Podcasts, and Webcasts
The GASB website offers short video presentations about recent pronouncements, proposals, and ongoing activities. New videos are added regularly. The GASB also occasionally conducts free educational webcasts about proposed standards and recent pronouncements. Those webcasts sometimes offer CPE credit.Research Publications
Some studies supported by the GASB have been published as official GASB Research Reports or GASB Research Findings. These GASB publications address many of the seminal issues that form the foundation of major pronouncements—such as Statement 14 on the financial reporting entity, Statement 34 on the financial reporting model, and the Suggested Guidelines for Voluntary Reporting of service efforts and accomplishments information—and are an important part of the governmental accounting literature. More recently, the GASB has posted Research Briefs to its website that summarize the results of research conducted on overarching issues such as the timeliness of financial reporting and compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Research Reports and Research Findings can be purchased through the GASB website. For a complete list of all GASB research publications, open the next section below on GASB Research Publications.Research Memoranda
At the conclusion of a pre-agenda research effort, the GASB technical staff prepares an educational memorandum summarizing the results of the research for the Board to review and discuss in a public meeting. That discussion generally takes place at the meeting prior to the Board’s discussion of whether to add a standards-setting project to the GASB’s current technical agenda. For a complete list of all GASB research memoranda, open the next section below on GASB Research Publications.GASB Project Pages
The latest information about projects on the GASB’s standards-setting agenda and pre-agenda research activities can be found easily at www.gasb.org. The website includes pages dedicated to each project, featuring current developments, tentative decisions, recent minutes, background information on the project, project history, accounting and financial reporting issues being addressed, and work plan. The pages are updated after each meeting of the Board.GASB Meeting Webcasts and Recordings
Meetings of the Board generally are broadcast live on the GASB website. Recordings of the meeting webcasts remain on the site for 30 days following the meeting. Recordings of GASAC meetings are posted the following day and also remain available for a month.Research Grants
As described above, the GASB annually offers grants to support research that is relevant to projects on its technical agenda through its Gilbert W. Crain Memorial Research Grant program. The GASB encourages research on issues that may require standards setting and evaluations of the effectiveness of existing standards. In addition to monetary support, academics also benefit from the expertise of the GASB staff and the GASB’s professional contacts and administrative resources.GASB Speakers
Academics and other stakeholders can request GASB technical staff to speak at their conferences and other meetings via the speaker request portal on the GASB website. The GASB generally requires host organizations to reimburse reasonable out-of-pocket travel costs, though that requirement may be waived in some instances. One way to minimize costs is to arrange a speaking engagement on a date when a GASB staff member is scheduled to speak nearby. A calendar of confirmed GASB speaking engagements is updated regularly on the GASB website.Student Visits
The GASB and FASB regularly host groups of visiting students at the GASB/FASB offices in Norwalk, CT. If you would like more information about a student visit, please contact adminsupport@f-a-f.org.Technical Inquiries
Academics and other stakeholders can pose technical questions about GASB standards using a form on the GASB website. Questions submitted through the technical inquiry portal are directed to the technical staff member best suited to answer—usually one of the staff involved in the development of the standards.GASB RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
GASB publications are available for download.Research Reports
Research Findings
Special Report
Research Briefs and Summaries
Research Memoranda
GASB Research Reports
GASB Research Findings
GASB Special Report
| Title | Date |
| Reporting Performance Information: Suggested Criteria for Effective Communication | 2003 |
GASB Research Briefs and Summaries
GASB Research Memoranda
| Title | Date |
| Asset Retirement Obligations | July 2014 |
| Blending Requirements for Certain Business-Type Activities | July 2014 |
| Compensated Absences | November 2019 |
| Conduit Debt | July 2017 |
| Deferred Compensation | November 2018 |
| Fiduciary Responsibilities | August 2013 |
| Financial Reporting Model | July 2015 |
| Going Concern Disclosures | October 2021 |
| Infrastructure Assets | February 2023 |
| Interim Financial Reporting | November 2021 |
| Investment Fees | March 2021 |
| Irrevocable Charitable Trusts | May 2014 |
| Nonfinancial Assets | July 2021 |
| Note Disclosures | July 2018 |
| Pensions | April 2008 |
| Prior-Period Adjustments, Accounting Changes, and Error Corrections | November 2019 |
| Revenue Recognition | March 2016 |
| Social Impact Bonds (Pay-for-Success Financings) | November 2017 |
| Subsequent Events | July 2023 |
| Tax Abatements | December 2013 |
| Timeliness of Financial Reporting | December 2018 |