Chapter 1
FASB Accounting Standards Codification TM Research
System

 Enables comprehensive, but not complete, research on accounting issues for the private sector.
 Includes essential content and implementation guidance from prior GAAP levels A–D, organized into approximately 90 topical areas.
 Includes limited SEC Content (for user convenience only).

 Supersedes all pre-existing non-governmental accounting and reporting standards upon adoption.
 Replaces the prior five-level GAAP hierarchy with two levels: authoritative and nonauthoritative.

 Access the Codification from the FASB website
( www.fasb.org
); left-click “Standards tab”; then left-click “Accounting Standards
Codification”, or go directly to http://asc.fasb.org
 There are two types of users and two subscriptions available:

 Login
 Basic View: free to users who register with a valid email address, has limited functionality.
 Professional View: provides full access to the
Codification for a fee.
 Academic: access to professional view at reduced rates.

 Contains Five tabs: Browse, What’s New,
Recently Issued, Cross Reference, Join sections.
 Browse: is a powerful research tool.
 What’s New: includes information by date, topic, or document for various time periods, up to one year.
 Recently Issued: includes links to recently issued content.

The Codification – Opening Screen
(Cont.)
 Cross Reference: allows researcher to crossreference between original archived standards and Codification.
 Join Sections: allows researcher to select multiple topics and display those choices in one document.

Browse Tab – Left Navigation Panel
 Is divided into two areas: Codification and
Other Sources
 Codification
 “Go To” box : allows researcher to directly type known code section to be hyperlink to the associated section.
 Notice to Constituents: discusses the
Codification in general.

Browse Tab – Left Navigation Panel
(Cont.)
 Topical Categories: include General Principles,
Presentation, Financial statement accounts, Broad
Transactions, and Industry.
 Follow a three-two-two numbering scheme (XXX-YY-
ZZ).
 General principles are assigned codes 105-199.
 Presentation topics are assigned codes 2-5-299.
 Financial statement accounts are assigned codes 305-799.
 Assets: 305-399
 Liabilities: codes 405-499
 Equity: 505-599
 Revenue: 605-699
 Expenses: 705-799

Browse Tab – Left Navigation Panel
(Cont.)
 Broad transactions are assigned codes 805-899.
 Industries are assigned codes 905-999.
 Master Glossary: provides a list of all glossary terms contained in each topic.
 Other Sources
 Accounting standards updates.
 Proposed accounting standards updates.
 Other exposure documents.
 Pre-codification standards.
 Maintenance updates.

Browse Tab – Center Screen & Top
Right Screen Area
 The center screen contains:
 About the codification - links to the Notice to
Constituents.
 Providing feedback - links to information about how to provide feedback.
 Tutorials, help and research - provides audio slide deck tutorials, help on navigation, help on features such as: annotations, archived content, copy and paste, feedback etc.; and four suggestions for researching in the codification.

Browse Tab – Center Screen & Top
Right Screen Area (Cont.)
 What’s New - contains latest modifications and enhancements to the website.
 The top right screen area contains a Search box and a link to the Advanced Search.

 The Codification database enables researchers to obtain authoritative evidence on their research questions.
 Search processes include utilizing:
 The cross reference function (middle screen area or its own tab).
 The master glossary (left navigation panel).
 A topical category search (left navigation panel).
 A key word search (top right screen area).

The Research Process – Master
Glossary
 Master Glossary provides a list of all glossary terms contained in each topical category.
 To use:
 Left-click on the master glossary heading for the alphabet to appear in the center screen area along with a Glossary Term Quick Find option.
 Left-click on the desired alphabet letter or type in a term to display results of all related definitions.

The Research Process – Topical
Categories
 Topical categories are always displayed in the left navigation panel.
 Most widely used research method as most researchers have an idea of which topic is of interest to them.
 To search within topics:
 Move the cursor over the category of interest to open the topic and subtopic windows.
 After reaching the final area of interest, left-click to produce the desired information in the center screen.

The Research Process – Keyword
Search
 Basic keyword search
 Located on the top right screen.
 Enter a keyword(s).
 Left click on “Go.”
 Search results appears in center screen.
 Left-click on a search result heading to produce the related literature.
 Advanced keyword search
 Located beneath the basic search bar.
 Allows the search to be narrowed by:
 Search area – all or specific topics and subtopics.
 Keyword – all, any, exact, within so many words.
 Codification reference.
 Document/title heading.

The Research Process – Keyword
Search (Cont.)
 Basic keyword search
 An area to the right of the screen helps the researcher narrow the search by related terms or area.
 Advanced keyword search
 Area – all or specific without topic/subtopic choices.
 Source type – Codification or other.
 Number of results to display.
 Results are shown in center screen with narrowing subtopics on the right.

Moving within the Codification and
Section Links
 For all searches, the back arrow in the browser can be used to move back to the previous search.
 Alternatively, left-click on the larger topical area would restore the previous search results on display.

E-mail, Print, And Copy/Paste
Functions
 Content of Standard can be emailed, printed, or copied and pasted.
 Page/Print Functions box and an e-mail box appear in a title bar at the bottom of the screen.
 Left-click on page/print heading.
 The researcher can choose to e-mail, print a record, print a record with the table of contents, print a record with sources, or copy and paste the record.