US Accounting Board Looks Across the Ocean to Fill Hole in Rules

The flood of government aid that helped keep companies afloat during the coronavirus pandemic exposed a hole in US accounting rules: Businesses have no way to record the grants, loans, and tax breaks that bolstered their bottom lines.

US accounting standard-setters now wonder if it’s time to look across the Atlantic for guidance. The London-based International Accounting Standards Board issued rules specific to government assistance accounting decades ago. Perhaps US businesses should just follow those well-known rules, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has suggested.

As it turns out, it’s not as simple as copying and pasting. But to some accountants, ...