Fasb Codification System Orientation Paper

FASB Codification System

The FASB Codification System is a database and research system developed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). It is intended to be the single source for accountants, reporting professionals, investors, and analysts for authoritative resources on U.S. accounting standards. It is meant to ensure that the codified content accurately represents GAAP. Any information that is not found on the website is not considered to be from an authoritative source. The codification system is a research system that is up to date on standard setting activity (Brenner & Watkins, 2011). It can be used to make better accounting decisions because it reduces the research time and allows accountants to make decisions efficiently and quickly. GAAP can be easily updated which helps accountants and users of the codification system to stay current.

There are nine content areas located on the FASB codification website. They include:

* General Principles

* Presentation

* Assets

* Liabilities

* Equity

* Revenue

* Expenses

* Broad Transactions

* Industry

The general principles section includes information on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The presentation section has information on the presentation of financial statements (balance sheet, statement of owner's equity, income statement, and the statement of cash flows). It also has resources for notes on financial statements, interim reporting, accounting changes and errors, and earnings per share. The assets section has information regarding cash, cash equivalents, receivables, investments, inventory, intangibles, and property, plant, and equipment. In the liabilities section, the website provides information on debt, loss and gain contingencies, deferred revenue pertaining to specific types of businesses such as health care entities, real estate entities, and not-for-profit entities.

The equity section contains material on stock dividends, stock splits, treasury stock, and spinoffs. Revenue section includes information on many different types of entities and how they should