Accounting rule makers are asking companies and their investors again for their views on how to map out requirements to adopt a whole slate of major new accounting standards - one at a time or all at once.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are conducting an online survey asking for feedback on how to plan the effective dates for major new accounting requirements for leases, revenue recognition, financial instruments, and insurance contracts. The boards issued a discussion paper asking similar questions in October, but a limited number of responses didn't really give FASB and IASB the kind of insight they were hoping to gain from the process.

The boards have already determined it will be late in 2011 before they finalize the four key projects that make up the bulk of their work these days in eliminating the major differences between U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and International Financial Reporting Standards. They need more time than they originally anticipated to work through significant changes from their original proposals, so they've abandoned hope of meeting their original June 2011 target date to finalize the new rules.

The survey asks preparers and investors for their views on the potential effective dates and transition methods for all four major new standards. The boards could set a single effective date for all the new standards or sequence the effective dates so they can be spread out over some period of years. The survey asks for views on which approach makes most sense, and how much lead time might be appropriate under each approach.

The boards also are wrestling with whether to require companies to apply any or all of the standards retrospectively – meaning they would redo accounting in prior periods following the new rules as if they had always been in place – to present a more comparable picture of the company's financial results year over year. The alternative is to require companies only to adopt the standards prospectively, or on a go-forward basis, which is easier and less costly for companies but makes comparisons with prior years much more difficult.

The boards could also require a “limited retrospective” adoption, where companies would be required to apply the rules to earlier periods but with some exceptions or exemptions permitted. The FASB is particularly concerned about the limited response from and burden that would be placed on private companies in adopting the significant number and scope of accounting changes that are in store. The boards asked the staff to reach out in other ways, such as the survey, to get more feedback. The boards also are looking for insight into what kinds of disclosures investors might need to better understand the changes that will occur in financial statements.

FASB and IASB said the survey should take 5 to 10 minutes, and they are looking for responses to the survey through May 6.

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