Industry News

On June 3, 2024, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) released its new review report, GASB Post-Implementation Review Report: GASB Statements No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, and No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions. The Post-Implementation Review (PIR) report on GASB Statements No. 67 and No. 68 indicates that the pension standards met the following three PIR objectives:

• The standards accomplish their stated purpose;
• The costs and benefits are in line with expectations; and
• The Board followed its standard-setting process.

According to the report, “Overall, Statements 67 and 68 resolved the primary issues underlying the stated need for the standards…Consistent with the comprehensive nature of the Statements, implementation costs were significant.” It added, “Overall, the expected benefits of Statements 67 and 68 — improved user understanding about pension plans and pensions, including governments’ net pension liabilities and contributions to pension plans, better decision making and assessment of accountability and interperiod equity, greater comparability and consistency, and increased transparency — have been achieved.”  

The report concludes that GASB Statements No. 67 and No. 68 substantially enhanced the accounting and financial reporting for pensions by pension plans and governmental employers. Some of the key provisions focused on the recognition of the net pension liability on the face of the government-wide statement of net position and the measurement of the liability using a blended discount rate.

The report is available here.