Financial Reporting Considerations Related to COVID-19 and an Economic Downturn

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic1 is affecting major economic and financial markets, and virtually all industries are facing challenges associated with the economic conditions resulting from efforts to address it. For example, many entities in the travel, hospitality, leisure, and retail industries have seen sharp declines in revenues due to regulatory and organizational mandates (e.g., “shelter in place” mandates, school closures) and voluntary changes in consumer behavior (e.g., “social distancing”).

As the spread of the pandemic increases, entities are experiencing conditions often associated with a general economic downturn, including, but not limited to, financial market volatility and erosion of market value, deteriorating credit, liquidity concerns, further increases in government intervention, increasing unemployment, broad declines in consumer discretionary spending, increasing inventory levels, reductions in production because of decreased demand and supply constraints, layoffs and furloughs, and other restructuring activities. The continuation of these circumstances could have a prolonged negative impact on an entity’s financial condition and results.

This Financial Reporting Alert discusses certain key accounting and financial reporting considerations related to conditions that may result from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as various industry-specific considerations. The significance of the topics discussed will of course vary by industry and entity, but we believe that the following accounting and reporting issues will be the most pervasive and challenging as a result of the pandemic’s impact:

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