Accounting Board Weighs Expense Breakdown Push From Investors

US accounting rulemakers are looking to force companies to break down broad income statement expense lines so they reveal what goes in those catch-all categories.

It’s a key demand from investors, who know things like rising labor costs affect the bottom lines of businesses they analyze, but glean little to nothing from company income statements about how much the expenses change from period to period.

Financial Accounting Standards Board members on Wednesday signaled some support for forcing breakdowns of labor, depreciation, and amortization expenses at a minimum, but have yet to decide on which expenses would be required. FASB’s research ...