Assets, Contingent Assets and Contractual Rights

PSAB Decision Summary – March 19-20, 2015

PSAB reviewed responses to its August 2014 Exposure Draft, “Assets, Contingent Assets and Contractual Rights.” There was general support among the respondents for the proposed standards. After discussing the responses and the changes proposed by the task force to address the comments, PSAB approved three new Handbook Sections — Assets, Contingent Assets and Contractual Rights.

PSAB Decision Summary – June 12-13, 2013

PSAB approved a statement of principles on assets, contingent assets and contractual rights. The statement of principles proposes:

• additional guidance on the definition and essential characteristics of assets;
• disclosure requirements for assets that are not recognized; and
• definitions of, and disclosure requirements for, contingent assets and contractual rights.

PSAB Decision Summary – March 21-22, 2013

PSAB reviewed a draft statement of principles on assets, contingent assets and contractual rights. PSAB provided feedback on a few key issues and requested the task force to revise the document for further discussion at PSAB’s June 2013 meeting.

PSAB Decision Summary – March 21-23, 2012

PSAB received an update and provided feedback on issues discussed at the task force’s recent meeting. In particular, PSAB considered reporting of contingent assets.

PSAB Decision Summary – December 15-16, 2011

PSAB held its first discussion of issues in the Assets project. It discussed the “power to tax” in relation to the existing definition of an asset to explore and consider the various components of the definition.

The Assets project is intended to provide guidance that will help preparers and auditors in assessing whether an item meets the current definition and consider providing guidance on contingent assets and contractual rights.

PSAB Decision Summary – June 15-16, 2009

PSAB approved a new project on assets. Ranked highly by constituent groups in the 2009 Project Prioritization Survey, the project will provide additional guidance on applying the asset definition in the public sector. The resulting standards are expected to be useful to constituents in understanding and debating what constitutes an asset, contingent asset and contractual right, in a similar manner as did the project on liabilities completed in 2004.