Because most core systems don't differentiate between an original loan and a TDR, credit unions had to manually compute delinquency rates for Call Reports. The new rule, which goes into effect June 30, allows TDRs to be reported as current if payments are on time, which eliminates the dual reporting requirement.

Multiply the manual reporting burden by more than 150,000 TDR loans as of Sept. 30, 2011, and the rule burns more than 450,000 man hours each year.

Credit unions will have to devote time to writing newly required TDR policies, which the NCUA estimates will take an average of eight hours. When that new burden is subtracted from the time savings, credit unions come away with approximately 400,000 net saved man hours per year.

Patelco Credit Union Chief Financial Officer Scott Waite, who assisted NCUA in developing the new rules, said if you take those 400,000 hours and multiply them times $20 an hour, an average accountant's salary, it means $8 million savings for federally insured credit unions.

Not only does that help a credit union's bottom line, he said, but it also frees up accounting staff. The dual reporting required 15 hours a month at the $3.7 billion Patelco, Waite said, adding that his shop doesn't have as many TDRs compared with total loans as other credit unions.