New Narrow Government Aid Disclosures Leave Room for Improvement

Companies will soon have to reveal details about credits, grants, and low-interest loans they receive from federal, state, and local government programs under new accounting requirements published Wednesday.

But the details—required in financial statement disclosures by a Financial Accounting Standards Board update—will be limited. It is easier to say what will be excluded from the new footnotes than what will be required.

What’s out: anything to do with income tax breaks, which make up the vast majority of government help to big companies. Also out: low-interest loans that are accounted for as debt. Same for forgivable loans ...