Major Expenses Get Top Billing in Segment Accounting Update (2)

Public companies will have to reveal for the first time big segment-level expenses like advertising or the costs to sell their products under a US accounting rulemaker update announced Monday.

The plan is an effort to shed more light on how expenses impact company performance on a business-line level. More details should help investors better assess trends and make forecasts, according to the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

“That information enables them to better understand a company’s overall performance and assist them in making their own evaluation of that performance,” FASB Chair Richard Jones said in a video announcing the update. ...