GASB Standards Delay Due to Covid-19

COVID-19 has brought with it many unfortunate results, however GASB provided some positive news after they met last week. They voted to delay all accounting standards by a year. This will result in a delay with GASB 84 (Fiduciary Activities) as well as the upcoming Leases standard (GASB 87).

This is especially good news for Illinois school districts as they can delay the standard that would have resulted in Activity Funds being moved to the Education Fund. The standard will now be effective for Fiscal Year 2021. We know that many Districts were in the process of making the necessary changes to the accounting system and/or budget to implement this standard, despite the needed guidance from Illinois State Board of Education.

This delay will allow Illinois State Board of Education time to make the changes needed to comply with the new standard. Illinois State Board of Education has proposed changes to the Statutes that are set for approval by the State. It changes the definition of an activity fund to align with the GASB standard.

The revised Statutes provide the new account numbers for activity funds that will appear on the 2021 Budget Form under the new sub-fund of the Educational Fund – Fund 11 – Restricted Student Activity Fund):

• 1799 – Activity Fund Revenues
• 1999 – 600 – Activity Fund Expenses
• 126 – Activity Fund Cash
• 715 – Reserved Fund balance for Student Activity Funds

While this is good news, we know that there may be a few districts that already had moved their activity funds and taken all the necessary steps to implement GASB 84. If this is the case, please contact our office and we can discuss the option of early implementation. Otherwise, we would recommend districts delay implementation to fiscal year 2021.

We will provide additional information, once the proposed changes to the Statutes have been approved. We will also provide additional information about the new lease standard (GASB 87) once we get closer to implementation (fiscal year 2022).