We’ve been hearing it from all sides: CECL will have an institution-wide impact – greater, it is proposed, than any accounting change in banking history. Considering the breadth and depth of the impact, the transition to, implementation of, and ongoing execution of CECL demand oversight from the institution’s top executives, and in particular, the CFO.

As financial institutions plan for their respective deadlines to implement the current expected credit loss (CECL) model, some are deliberating on what they should do in their final year to get ready. ASU 2016-13 is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2019.

Financial institutions across the country are now actively preparing for the ALLL transition from the incurred loss to expected loss models. By now, most banks and credit unions are well aware of the methodology options under CECL. However, many are still having challenges interpreting results from their modeling exercises.