FASAC announces annual survey results. (Highlights).

The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) released the findings of its most recent annual survey. Respondents expressed concern about a wide range of issues, including the growing number of financial statement revisions by companies that had recognized revenue inaccurately.

The council had asked its members and those of FASB, as well as other prominent individuals from the financial community, to identify topics most in need of the board's attention in the coming year and to comment on various other issues.

Besides recommending that revenue recognition be placed at the top of FASB's 2003 agenda, participants said the board needs to quickly address other issues: accounting treatment of consolidations (which would broaden its focus on special-purpose entities), codification and simplification of standards (which would correspond with FASB's project on principles-based standard setting (see News Digest, page 19)), development of financial performance reporting measures (that would go beyond the widely used earnings-per-share criterion) and completion of the second phase of FASB's business combinations project.

Among the topics likely to become future priorities, valuation issues attracted the most concern. Those surveyed noted, in particular, the absence of objective criteria for measuring fair value.

In general, survey participants said they were prepared to accept differences in how principles-based standards could be interpreted--despite the risk that their judgment would be questioned--and were ready to make the determinations necessary to apply such standards. In addition, the great majority felt FASB's international activities were an appropriate use of its resources.

The survey and responses are available on the FASB Web site at www. fasb.org/fasac/resultspg2002.shtml.