ASU 2019-03 — Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958)—Updating the Definition of Collections

The amendments in this final Update improve the definition of the term collections in the Master Glossary by realigning it with the definition in the American Alliance of Museums' (AAM) Code of Ethics for Museums (the Code) in order to eliminate the diversity in practice that exists today between the application of the Master Glossary's definition compared with the definition that many entities use for accreditation purposes. The amendments in this Update also are an improvement because aligning the definition and permitting proceeds to be utilized for the direct care of collections is consistent with the basis for conclusions in FASB Statement No. 116, Accounting for Contributions Received and Contributions Made, about the care and preservation of collections. The amendments in this Update require that a collection-holding entity disclose its policy for the use of proceeds from when collection items are deaccessioned (that is, removed from a collection). If a collection-holding entity has a policy that allows proceeds from deaccessioned collection items to be used for direct care, it should disclose its definition of the term direct care.

The amendments in this Update also make a Codification improvement in Topic 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment, to clarify that the collections guidance in Subtopic 958-360, Not-for-Profit Entities—Property, Plant, and Equipment, applies to business entities as well as not-for-profit entities, consistent with what was indicated in Statement 116.

This Accounting Standards Update is the final version of Proposed Accounting Standards Update 2018-250—Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958): Updating the Definition of Collections, which has been deleted.

Issued: March 21, 2019