The GASB has issued Concepts Statement No. 7, Communication Methods in General Purpose External Financial Reports That Contain Basic Financial Statements: Notes to Financial Statements. Concepts Statements do not establish or amend authoritative guidance; rather, the purpose of Concepts Statement No. 7 is to provide the GASB criteria to consistently evaluate notes to financial statements in the standards-setting process. Concepts Statement No. 7 is the outcome of a process that started in 2016.
An example of a clarification in Concepts Statement No. 7 is the additional clarity provided around the concept of “essentiality”. Notes to financial statements are intended to be essential information. Essential information has or is expected to have a meaningful effect on users’ analyses for making decisions or assessing accountability, and a breadth or depth of users utilize or are expected to utilize the information in their analyses for making decisions or assessing accountability.
Because Concepts Statements are not authoritative, it is not integrated into the GASB Codification and is instead available as a standalone statement.
The full text of Concepts Statement No. 7 can be found here.
Readers should not act upon information presented without individual professional consultation.