Big business takes aim at stock option plan

America's largest business organizations are taking aim at a proposal requiring that companies treat stock options as an expense. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Business Roundtable said on Wednesday that the proposed accounting rule should be delayed until "comprehensive field tests" can be completed.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), a private body that creates accounting guidelines, proposed in March that stock options should be included in corporate income statements instead of disclosed in footnotes. FASB's proposal has sparked opposition from politicians trying to overturn its decision and even a rally in favor of stock options in Palo Alto, Calif.