Update on FASB Exposure Draft 715-80

October 26 2010

Legislative Affairs

On Sept. 1, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released Exposure Draft 715-80 which would require footnote disclosures about each multiemployer plan in which an employer materially participates.

The new disclosure standards would require contractors that participate in multiemployer plans to disclose their potential withdrawal liability, regardless of whether or not they intend to withdraw from the plan or not.  The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC), and many other organizations in a number of different industries, believes the proposed accounting standards are seriously flawed in that they will require disclosure of information that is two years out of date, is not auditable, and will ultimately be misleading to any end user of financial statements.

To date, over 60 organizations have submitted comments to FASB on their Exposure Draft 715-80.  TAUC participates in the Campaign for Quality Construction (CQC), a six-member legislative alliance between union contractor trade associations that also includes the International Council of Employers of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (ICE), the Finishing Contractors Association (FCA), the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA).  CQC members will be submitting their comments before the deadline of November 1, 2010.

TAUC is also participating in another coalition on this subject matter with the Groom Law Group, and the other participants are from a variety of other industries including trucking, entertainment, etc.  TAUC has also signed on to the comments that are being submitted by the US Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, the CQC secured a Field Hearing with FASB at its headquarters in Norwalk, CT on Thursday, October 28, 2010.  Association staff and contributing employers represented the CQC along with experts from the law, accounting, actuarial and surety disciplines.

TAUC submitted its own comments to FASB, and those can be found below.  There will also be a panel discussion dedicated to this subject matter at TAUC’s State of the Union Construction Industry Meeting taking place on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C from 8 AM – 12:30 PM.