The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee’s purpose is to assist the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) on maintaining and improving the accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations (NFPOs) in Part III of the CPA Canada Handbook – Accounting and in identifying the need for non-authoritative guidance about the standards. The Committee makes recommendations to the AcSB but is not authorized to interpret or provide authoritative guidance on accounting standards for NFPOs.
This document has been prepared by the staff of the AcSB and is based on discussions during the Committee’s meeting. The meeting notes do not necessarily represent the views of the AcSB and nothing in them constitutes authoritative guidance on acceptable or unacceptable application of accounting standards for NFPOs. Only the AcSB can make such a determination.
Contributions
The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee continued discussing the feedback on the AcSB’s Exposure Draft, “Contributions – Revenue Recognition and Related Matters.” The Committee received an update on targeted outreach activities on a narrowed set of options to address feedback on the proposed approach for recognition of restricted contributions. The Committee discussed refinements to those options to address the feedback heard to date, and next steps for this project, including further outreach on the narrowed set of options.
The Committee also commenced discussions on the Exposure Draft feedback related to the accounting for contributed materials and services. Committee members provided input on potential changes to the proposed criteria for recognition of contributed materials and services. Discussions on this topic will continue at a future Committee meeting.
The AcSB will discuss the Committee’s feedback, the results of additional outreach and will continue deliberating the feedback on the Exposure Draft’s proposals at its March 2024 Board meeting.
Financial Statement Concepts
The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee received an overview of financial statement concepts in Parts II and III of the CPA Canada Handbook – Accounting. In addition, the Committee considered a comparison of Canadian domestic concepts to conceptual frameworks in other jurisdictions.
The Committee discussed the purpose of financial statement concepts, including how they serve as foundational elements for the AcSB when developing accounting standards. Further, the Committee discussed how preparers and practitioners use these concepts when applying standards.
Committee members noted that preparers and practitioners use concepts to gain a deeper understanding of accounting standards and to aid in appropriate application of the standards. This includes areas which require professional judgment as well as areas in which accounting principles are developing.
The Committee discussed whether NFPOs require financial statement concepts that are different than those for for-profit enterprises. While some Committee members noted that there are differences in the purpose of financial statements for NFPOs, there is a need to keep the financial statement concepts in Parts II and III of the Handbook closely aligned.
The AcSB will discuss the Committee’s feedback at its meeting in April 2024 as part of its ongoing research on financial statement concepts.
Revenue
The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee discussed feedback on the AcSB’s Exposure Draft, “Revenue – Upfront Non-refundable Fees or Payments.” This Exposure Draft proposed to indefinitely defer the effective date of previously issued application guidance for upfront non-refundable fees or payments. The proposed amendments also introduce a new disclosure requirement for upfront non-refundable fees or payments recognized in revenue when the enterprise recognizes the fee or payment in revenue upon entering into an arrangement.
The AcSB will consider feedback from its Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee and its Private Enterprise Advisory Committee at its March 2024 Board meeting.
AcSB Guidance Framework
The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee received an education session on the current guidance landscape for accounting standards for NFPOs. The Committee discussed the types of guidance that are currently available, including those issued by the AcSB and by other sources.
The Committee then discussed a draft guidance framework that the AcSB is developing in response to requests for guidance from interested and affected parties. This discussion included potential criteria to consider when determining if more guidance is necessary for a topic, and the Committee’s role in the proposed guidance framework.
The AcSB will consider the Committee’s feedback when discussing the draft guidance framework at the March 2024 Board meeting.