In summary, our review of general purpose standards
issued since 1980 indicates that, contrary to common perceptions,
many of the general purpose standards issued
during this period are based on a conceptual foundation
and have few ‘‘bright lines.” Nonetheless, a number of
the standards have been subject to substantive interpretations,
several have significant exceptions, which in some
cases were included to accommodate some of the significant
financial statement impacts of adopting the new standards.
Finally, implementation of 12 of the 19 standards
resulted in expanded disclosures.