What is the Emerging Issues Task Force?

The Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) is an institution established in 1984 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) with the aim of assisting and improving financial reporting techniques.

What Does the Emerging Issues Task Force Do?

The EITF is tasked to address the emerging issues within the domain of existing generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The main purpose of establishing the emerging issues task force was to minimize the use of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The emerging issues task force (EITF) consists of professional accountants, chief, CPA, member of FASB, members of the SEC and other members from the public and private sector who participate in meeting and deliberate the emerging issues. Chairman of Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinRec) of the AICPA and Chairman of IASB can also attend the meeting organized by emerging issues task force (EITF). the Task Force is composed of many professional persons from different sectors who are well aware of emerging issues. To address emerging issues, the EITF arranges public gatherings and participants are invited from different sectors to include private and public sectors (banks, financial institutions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Federal Reserve Bank (FRB)) to identify and highlight the issues that need to be resolved. The EITF publishes the issue and informs FASB. If the EITF fails to reach consensus on an emerging issue, the Federal Accounting Standard Board (FASB) is required to take appropriate measures. EITF reaches an approve consensus if no more than three members vote against the proposed issue. Once it is approved, it needs to be ratified by FASB.