One-third of bankers and credit unions executives have not yet begun preparations for the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) coming Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) standard, according to a new poll by the financial information firm Sageworks.

Sageworks surveyed 407 respondents at banks and credit unions nationwide during a July 7 round table webinar about FASB’s Final CECL standard. The new standards will essentially ask banks and credit unions to change the way they account for allowances for loan and lease losses (ALLL). The firm said that 22 percent of its respondents indicated they had not taken any action yet and another 11 percent said they weren’t sure where to start.

“The 22 percent that haven’t taken action yet is not that surprising in light of over 64 percent of respondents are doing something for an event four years away,” Senior Risk Management Consultant Rob Ashbaugh said in a statement.

On the upside, however, Sageworks said that 53 percent of survey respondents said they have at least been reading through the CECL standard, and another 64 percent said they have been discussing CECL within their institution. Another 26.5 percent said they have been discussing CECL with their boards.

As a first step, Ashbaugh recommended gathering a few people affected by ALLL – such as those from the credit, risk and audit functions of the institution – to form a working committee and to begin by simply reading the regulation and determining whether the institution has enough data to do a calculation.

“The next three to four years will be here and gone before you know it,” he said. “Those that haven’t taken action yet should start discussing their next steps now.”