For years now, the profession has been debating the need for a separate set of reporting standards for private companies.

That debate is speeding toward resolution.

Most of the members of a blue ribbon panel studying the issue say we need a new reporting model that follows GAAP, but with exceptions for private companies. Moreover, the panel recommends the creation of a separate “private company standards board” that would be governed by the Financial Accounting Foundation.

So where does that leave us?

“The panel will continue to develop this model, as well as address issues that surfaced outside of the consensus views,” the FAF reports. “The panel will discuss a draft report containing its recommendations at its next meeting on Dec. 10 at the FAF offices in Norwalk, Conn. The panel is expected to issue the report to the FAF Board of Trustees in January 2011 and then to the public. After deliberation, the FAF trustees’ resulting action plan is expected to be subject to further input from constituents, including exposing the plan for public comment prior to its being implemented.”

In other words, nothing is set in stone yet … but we're getting awfully close.

In the next few days, I'll be speaking with Judy O'Dell, an MACPA member and chair of the FASB's Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, to find out what all of this means for private companies and the the CPAs who serve them. Stay tuned for that interview.

In the meantime, check out these related resources:

• Private company standards: Are we at a tipping point? (from CPA Success)
• MACPA comments to the blue ribbon panel
• FEI committee on private companies responds to blue ribbon panel (FEI's Financial Reporting Blog)