Outlining the most impactful assumptions and challenges under CECL: a banker’s view

Dylan Adams and Diane Menzo

During the implementation of CECL at our organisation, we often found ourselves thinking “The next time we implement CECL…”, followed by whatever obvious lesson we had just learned. Our hope with this chapter is to provide the reader with some of the lessons learned, and the overall best practices and pitfalls discovered throughout the process. The areas that we will highlight include resources, communication and education, data and assumptions, internal controls, documentation and explaining output. Even if CECL has been implemented in your organisation, these lessons may be useful to help further enhance processes and systems, and to serve as a guide for future implementations of the same or greater magnitude. CECL is a journey; the adoption date is simply a rest stop in that journey.

RESOURCES: EDUCATE EARLY AND BROADEN YOUR SCOPE

The CECL implementation project will have a significant impact on an institution’s resources. It is important to consider the difference between one-time project-related resources and permanent ongoing resource needs. CECL will likely require several new permanent resources in the department responsible for executing the process on a go-forward