Journal Entries

This recurring website feature highlights articles from The GASB Report, the GASB’s monthly newsletter. The current article appeared in the February 2013 issue.

GASB Performance Measures: Technical Inquiry Activities

Each year, the GASB staff spends a significant amount of time responding to questions (technical inquiries) from its constituents about GASB standards. This effort is an important function of the GASB in fulfilling its mission. The following performance measures assess a part of the mission and the GASB’s strategic plan objective to “guide and educate constituents about the content and value of the GASB’s reporting requirements and proposed standards.”

Time Required to Complete Inquiries

GASB response times to complete technical inquiries submitted to the GASB in 2012 significantly exceeded goals for responses in the less than one- , two- , and three-week categories, as indicated in the table below. The goal of completing all technical inquiries in less than four weeks was nearly met, with fewer than 10 out of 1,240 inquiries requiring 4 or more weeks to complete. Inquiries can take four weeks or more to complete for a number of reasons. More complex inquiries, for example, sometimes lead to an extended dialogue between the inquirer and the GASB staff to obtain or clarify specific facts or circumstances and may therefore take longer to resolve.

Technical Inquiries in 2012
Technical Inquiries Closed Within	Number of Inquiries	2012 Cumulative Percentage	2011 Cumulative Percentage	GASB Goals
0–6 days	1,078	86.9%	93.8%	80.0%
7–13 days	119	96.5%	99.3%	90.0%
14–20 days	27	98.7%	99.9%	95.0%
21–27 days	7	99.3%	99.9%	100.0%
28+ days	9	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
	1,240

Time Until First Contact Is Made with the Inquirer

Although it may take longer to provide a final answer to an inquirer, the staff actually responds within days of receiving an inquiry in order to acknowledge receipt of the inquiry and to gather additional information. The GASB’s goal is to make initial contact with all inquirers within one week. During 2012, contact was made within a day for nearly 70 percent of the inquiries. Contact was made within 7 days in more than 95 percent of the inquiries received. The GASB’s response time in 2012 closely tracked with 2011 benchmarks, and the staff is striving to improve response time further in 2013.

Technical Inquiries in 2012
First Contact with Inquirer Made Within	Number of Inquiries	2012 Cumulative Percentage	2011 Cumulative Percentage	GASB Goals
1 day	856	69.0%	71.2%	60.0%
2–6 days	294	92.7%	93.8%	90.0%
7 days	30	95.2%	95.7%	100.0%
8+ days	60	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
	1,240

Inquirer Satisfaction with Understandability, Helpfulness, and Promptness

Constituent satisfaction with the GASB’s technical inquiry activities in 2012 substantially exceeded the GASB’s goals in each category and showed improvement over 2011 figures in three of four categories. Overall satisfaction was 98 percent. The GASB is endeavoring to maintain and improve upon this level of overall inquirer satisfaction in 2013.

Technical Inquiries in 2012
Measure	Total 2012	GASB Goals	Total 2011
Answers to technical inquiries   were understandable or   very easy to understand	99.0%	90.0%	98.9%
Person responding to technical   inquiry was helpful or   very helpful	99.5%	90.0%	98.9%
Person making technical inquiry   was satisfied or very satisfied   with promptness of response	99.5%	90.0%	98.3%
Overall, person making technical   inquiry was satisfied or very   satisfied with the experience	98.0%	90.0%	98.9%

How to Submit a Technical Inquiry

The answers to many general questions (for example, status of a current GASB project or effective date of a Statement) can be found on the GASB’s website, www.gasb.org, or by contacting staff members via email.

Inquirers with questions that include requests for interpretation of accounting standards are encouraged to use the GASB’s web-based technical inquiry system at www.gasb.org. The system can be accessed by clicking the Technical Inquiry System menu item under the Technical Issues tab on the GASB website.