The deadline for implementing the Financial Accounting Standards Board's new current expected credit loss rules may seem far away, but experts are warning credit unions to start getting ready now.

The rules, which require credit unions and other financial institutions to record expected losses when they make new loans, don't kick in for credit union Call Reports until the beginning of 2022. But CECL preparations can easily take years and procrastination can be a costly mistake, industry pros cautioned. Here are three things they said credit unions should start doing now if they want to be ready for CECL on time – and when it's too late to start.

1. Figure out what data to collect and how to collect it. "That's the first priority right now," Thomas Griswold, director of advisory services at financial institution advisory firm ALM First in Dallas, Texas, said.