Title: The Influence of the FASB's "Asset-Liability" View on Standard-Setting Since SFAC 3
Author(s) : Michael Fischer, Victoria Vega
Among the objectives of the FASB’s Conceptual Framework was to provide guidance for the FASB’s own future standard-setting efforts. One of the major choices made by the FASB when developing its Conceptual Framework was the adoption of the “asset-liability” view of income determination in Financial Accounting Standards No. 3 (SFAC 3). Anecdotal evidence indicates that the asset-liability view is central to several prominent standards issued by the FASB since SFAC 3. However, there has not been a thorough analysis of the role of the asset-liability view in standard-setting. This paper begins to close this lacuna in the literature. Specifically, we report on a systematic examination of citations of the asset-liability view in FASB standards since the issuance of SFAC 3 in December 1980.