Response to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s “Proposed Accounting Standards Update—Government Grants (Topic 832): Accounting for Government Grants by Business Entities”

This paper summarizes a comment letter we submitted to the Financial Accounting Standards Board in March 2025 in response to its Proposed Accounting Standards Update on accounting for government grants by business entities. We submitted a comment letter at the request of the Financial Reporting Policy Committee, which is charged by the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association with responding to requests for comment from standard setters on financial reporting issues. The proposed amendments aim to establish authoritative guidance on accounting for government grants received by business entities. We conclude that the proposed amendments will not provide decision-useful information to financial statement users. We detail the concerns underlying this conclusion and offer recommendations to address them. We also summarize findings from academic research and offer suggestions for future research.