Steven M. Bragg, CPA, CMA, CIA, CPIM, has been the chief financial officer or controller of four companies, as well as a consulting manager at Ernst & Young and auditor at Deloitte & Touche. He received a master's degree in finance from Bentley College, an MBA from Babson College, and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maine. He has been the two-time president of the Colorado Mountain Club, is an avid alpine skier and mountain biker, and is a certified master diver. Mr. Bragg resides in Centennial, Colorado. He is also the author of Accounting Best Practices and Design and Maintenance of Accounting Manuals, both from Wiley.

Wiley GAAP Policies and Procedures

By Steven M. Bragg

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2007 Steven M. Bragg
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-08183-9

Chapter One

RESEARCHING GAAP IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS

Overview 1 The GAAP Hierarchy 1 Researching GAAP 3 Researching Accounting Terminology 4 Researching Accounting Policies and Procedures 5 Researching Accounting Controls 5 Researching Accounting Forms and Reports 6 Researching Accounting Footnotes 7 Researching Accounting Journal Entries 7 Researching Accounting Record-keeping 8

OVERVIEW

This chapter is designed to give pointers to additional information in areas besides GAAP concepts. Though there are Concepts and Examples sections in each of the following chapters that give summarized versions of the relevant GAAP issues, the primary focus of this book is to provide information about ancillary topics that allow one to implement GAAP, such as accounting policies and procedures, controls, and reporting footnotes. Unfortunately, there are no authoritative sources for these GAAP implementation topics. Instead, the sections of this chapter devoted to each implementation topic list some organizations that can provide additional information, as well as key books that summarize or discuss related topics, including the name of each book's author, publisher, and date of publication. But first, we will address the GAAP hierarchy of accounting standards and rules, followed by the general approach for researching GAAP-related issues.

The GAAP Hierarchy

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are standards and rules for reporting financial information, as established and approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

There are three primary players in the promulgation of GAAP. First is the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which plays the lead role in establishing GAAP. Its Web site is located at http://www.fasb.org. Its mission is to "establish and improve standards of financial accounting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information." A subset of the FASB is the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), which (as its name implies) handles emerging accounting issues as soon as they become apparent, so that a standard approach can be created before any competing approaches come into use. This group typically deals with only very narrowly defined accounting issues, and its opinions are considered to be GAAP only if it can first reach a consensus opinion among its members. Finally, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the principal representative body for certified public accountants within the United States. Its Web site is located at http://www.aicpa.org. It periodically issues research bulletins, audit and accounting guides, statements of position, and practice bulletins that, if approved by the FASB, are considered to be GAAP. Some GAAP is still ascribed to the Accounting Principles Board (APB), though this entity was phased out in 1973.

There are many documents issued by these three accounting entities that are considered part of GAAP. Each one is described in the following bullet points:

FASB Statements of Financial Accounting Standards. The highest form of GAAP, the SFAS series is the primary publication of the FASB, and is the most carefully formulated (and debated) of all GAAP documents. FASB Interpretations. Used to clarify Statements of Financial Accounting Standards or the pronouncements made by prior accounting entities that are still considered to be GAAP. APB Opinions. The primary publication of the old Accounting Principles Board, this was the equivalent of an SFAS prior to the formation of the FASB. FASB Technical Bulletins. Provide guidance on issues not covered by existing standards, and where the guidance is not expected to be costly or create a major change. AICPA Statements of Position. Provide guidance on financial accounting and reporting issues. AICPA Industry Audit and Accounting Guides. Provide guidance to auditors in examining and reporting on financial statements of entities in specific industries and provide standards on accounting problems unique to a particular industry. EITF Consensus Positions. Provide positions on the correct treatment of emerging accounting issues. AICPA Practice Bulletins. Provide guidance on narrowly defined accounting topics. FASB Implementation Guides. Provide notes on how to implement specific Statements of Financial Accounting Standards, written by the FASB staff. The guides are organized in a question, background, and answer format.

GAAP is organized in a descending pyramid of authoritative sources, as shown in Exhibit 1-1. It contains the following four categories:

1. Category A is the most authoritative GAAP, containing the Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and related Interpretations (as promulgated by the FASB), as well as AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins and Opinions of the Accounting Principles Board. 2. Category B contains all FASB Technical Bulletins, as well as all AICPA Statements of Position and AICPA Industry Audit and Accounting Guides that have been approved by the FASB. 3. Category C includes consensus positions of the FASB's EITF, as well as those Practice Bulletins created by the AICPA's Accounting Standards Executive Committee that have been approved by the FASB. The positions of the EITF tend to cover such specialized topics that there is no more authoritative form of GAAP in Categories A or B, so these positions tend to be the most senior form of GAAP in their topical areas. 4. Category D includes implementation guides published by the FASB staff, as well as AICPA accounting interpretations and prevalent accounting practices.

Researching GAAP

The simplest approach to researching GAAP is to review the Concepts and Examples sections in this book. If this does not yield a detailed answer, a more comprehensive source of summarized GAAP information is the Wiley GAAP 2007 guide. The Wiley GAAP 2007 guide contains a more comprehensive Concepts section than this book, and also contains a list of authoritative pronouncements at its beginning, as well as the applicable page reference leading to a more complete discussion of the issues within the text. If this approach still does not yield a clear answer to a GAAP problem, one should review selected GAAP source documents, of which the most comprehensive is the FASB's Original Pronouncements and Accounting Standards three-volume series (noted in the following book list). It lists all FASB Statements of Standards, as well as AICPA Pronouncements, FASB Interpretations, FASB Concepts Statements, and FASB Technical Bulletins. Of particular use is the topical index located at the end of the third volume, which cross-references each topic to a GAAP source. Other more narrowly defined topics are covered by the other GAAP sources noted in the following book list. If these sources still do not yield a clear answer, one can ask other entities in the same industry how they are handling the issue (if only to obtain alternative solutions). If all else fails, use basic accounting theory to resolve the issue, or consult with a technical expert at a CPA firm. The most useful GAAP source documents are noted in the following book list:

Audit and Accounting Guides Author: AICPA Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: Various Emerging Issues Task Force Abstracts Author: FASB Publisher: FASB Publication Date: Annually FASB Staff Implementation Guides Author: FASB Publisher: FASB Publication Date: Annually Original Pronouncements and Accounting Standards Author: FASB Publisher: FASB Publication Date: Annually Statements of Position Author: AICPA Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: Various

Researching Accounting Terminology

The best source of information about accounting terminology is the Statements of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS), as published by the FASB. These Statements generally begin with a definitions section that provides both clear and comprehensive definitions. However, definitions are provided only for the limited topics covered in each SFAS, so it can take some time to locate a specific definition from the various SFAS documents. Definitions are also provided in a variety of lower-level GAAP documents. Another source of definitions is an online glossary of definitions maintained by the AICPA, which can be accessed at http://www.aicpa.org/members/glossary. Given the minimal time most accountants will allocate to researching accounting definitions, a simpler form of access is the following accounting dictionary:

Dictionary of Accounting Terms Author: Joel Siegel and Jae Shim Publisher: Barron's Education Series, Inc. Publication Date: 2005

Researching Accounting Policies and Procedures

There is no standard set of policies and procedures related to GAAP. This information can be found within the Policies and related Procedures sections of each chapter in this book. Another source is books listing sample policies and procedures for generic company operations, as described in the first two books in the following list. An alternative is to use documentation manuals as guides for the construction of company-specific policies and procedures; the last two books in the following list can assist with this effort:

Bizmanualz Accounting Policies, Procedures, and Forms Author: Bizmanualz.com Inc. Publisher: Bizmanualz.com Inc. Publication Date: 2002 Design and Maintenance of Accounting Manuals Author: Steven Bragg Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2003 Documentation Improvement Methods Author: Athar Murtuza Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2002

Researching Accounting Controls

There is no standard source document itemizing the key control areas related to all types of GAAP. Instead, controls are either described in general terms through the reports issued by various accounting review committees (see the COSO Implementation Guide below) or else one must infer the correct types of controls to use based on various types of fraud that may occur (several examples are noted below). A good source for controls-related publications is the Institute of Internal Auditors, whose Web site is http://www.theiia.org. It is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and its phone number is 407-937-1100. Several reference books related to this topic are as follows:

COSO Implementation Guide Author: James P. Roth Publisher: Institute of Internal Auditors Publication Date: 1995 Financial Crime Investigation and Control Author: K. H. Spencer Pickett, Jennifer M. Pickett Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2002 Financial Reporting Fraud Author: Charles Lundelius Jr. Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: 2003 Financial Statement Fraud Author: Zabihollah Rezaee Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2002 Fraud 101 Author: Howard Davia Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2000 Internal Control Integrated Frameworks Author: Coopers & Lybrand Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: 1994 Process Development Life Cycle Author: Albert Marcella Jr. Publisher: Institute of Internal Auditors Publication Date: 2001

Researching Accounting Forms and Reports

There is no single book or periodical containing a comprehensive set of forms or reports linked to GAAP. The best source is the Forms and Reports sections within this book. Another alternative is to review publications describing how to construct these documents. Such information can then be used to design forms and reports based on the specific accounting structures unique to a company. The following source book provides information about constructing forms and reports:

Design and Maintenance of Accounting Manuals Author: Steven Bragg Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2003

Some examples of forms and reports can be found scattered through some of the larger accounting "how to" books, an example of which follows:

Controllership Author: James Willson et al. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2004

Researching Accounting Footnotes

Source documents for GAAP will describe the general contents of footnotes to financial statements, but rarely give more than a few limited examples. A better source of information is a selection of examples culled from financial reports. One of the best sources is the GAAP Financial Statement Disclosures Manual listed in the following references. Another option is to access the Web site of the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov and review the individual filings of various public companies, which can be accessed through the "Search for Company Filings" option on that Web page. The following source books can be used for additional information about footnote disclosures:

Financial Statement Presentation and Disclosure Practices for Employee Benefit Plans Author: AICPA Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: 2000 Financial Statement Presentation and Disclosure Practices for Not-for-Profit Organizations Author: Richard F. Larkin Publisher: AICPA Publication Date: 1999 GAAP Financial Statement Disclosures Manual Author: George Georgiades Publisher: CCH Publication Date: 2005 The Coopers & Lybrand SEC Manual Author: Robert Herz et al. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 1997

Researching Accounting Journal Entries

Examples of journal entry formats are listed in the Journal Entry sections of each chapter in this book. In addition, one can consult the Wiley GAAP guide for the most recent year, which may include different examples of journal entries for a specific topic. Another good source is the most recent edition of the standard textbooks for intermediate accounting, advanced accounting, and cost accounting. The following books can be consulted for this information:

Intermediate Accounting Author: Donald Kieso et al. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2006 Advanced Accounting Author: Debra Jeter et al. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2003 Ultimate Accountants' Reference Author: Steven Bragg Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2006 Cost Accounting Author: Steven Bragg Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publication Date: 2001

Researching Accounting Recordkeeping

Information about the proper time period over which to retain accounting documents is difficult to find, as are procedures and documentation for organizing and destroying documents. The principal organization concerning itself with these issues is the Association for Information Management Professionals, whose Web site is located at http://www.arma.org. It is located in Lenexa, Kansas, and its Web site lists a number of books related to records retention. (Continues...)

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