| page 2, Using the Internet to Research US Financial Accounting Standards previous page C. Finding No. 3. 1. Background. At the start of this project, I knew that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has important influence on the development and use of accounting standards in the Untied States. Another goal of the project was to get a better understanding of the useful information available at the SEC site for the accountant needing help with accounting entry decisions, such as the three “accounting problems” described in Section II above. 2. Finding. As mentioned above, I found the best way to search the SEC website is to use the Google technique described above. Information at the SEC site related to previous violations of accounting standards, I believe, is very useful. Reading through some of this information has been very helpful in better understanding what can go wrong in the accounting of specific situations, and in understanding what a standard is met to accomplish and prevent. D. Finding No. 4. 1. Background. At the beginning of this project, my impression was there are accounting standards, practices, and principles that are accepted and in use, whose origins go back to accounting setting organizations and systems that predated the Financial Accounting Standards Board. I was curious as to whether any of these written standards were available for research on the Internet. It seems to me that researching and studying these older standards might be useful to an accountant searching for answers and perspectives to accounting entry problems. 2. Finding. I could not find any of these older accounting standards accessible on the Internet. These older standards did not come up, not only on the searches at the FASB site, but also did not come up during extensive searching with major search engines. E. Finding No. 5 1. Background. I was also curious as to what other websites (besides the FASB, AICPA, and SEC sites) would provide a good resource in finding information, analysis, and interpretations on accounting standards. To identify such websites, I did an extensive Internet search using major search engines, and various search terms related to accounting and accounting standards. 2. Finding. I found only a few other websites that I would consider useful enough to use consistently by going to the websites and searching the websites for accounting standard-related information. These sites are: a. The Financial Executives International (FAI) website, www.financialexecutives.org. b. The New York State Society of CPAs website, www.nysscpa.org, where access to their “CPA Journal” is available. c. The US sites of the four major accounting firms: Ernst &Young, www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/US/Home; PriceWaterhouseCoopers, www.pwcglobal.com/gx/eng/main/home/index.html (and go to the US page); Deloitte, www.deloitte.com/dtt/home/0,1044,sid%253D2000,00.html; and KPMG, www.us.kpmg.com. Recent developments and activities by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other standard setting-related groups are often written up on these accounting firms websites. This seems to be the type of useful information usually found at these sites – news on recent activity, developments, and concerns of the FASB, SEC, and other standard setting-related bodies. Although all four accounting company websites have internal search systems, they are not very good (compared to, for example, Google), and using Google to search the sites (as described above for the FASB site) might give better results. F. Finding No. 6. 1. Background. Out of this Internet research project, I wanted to develop a “search strategy roadmap” that would be useful to follow in future searching for accounting standard (GAAP) guidance. 2. Finding. In searching for accounting standards with detailed guidance on specific accounting entry decisions, I would follow the following, sequential approach, until I was satisfied with my results: a. Search the FASB (www.fasb.org), AICPA (www.aicpa.org), and SEC (www.sec.gov) websites, using the Google search technique described above. Although the AICPA site does not have access to the AICPA-promulgated standards (see b., next), the AICPA site does give you access to the Journal of Accountancy and other articles and documents containing useful information on accounting standards. b. Search www.cpa2biz.com, a site owned by the AICPA, for AICPA-promulgated standards. But, as explained previously in the article, unfortunately a fee is required to access the results, and this greatly diminishes the availability of the standards. c. Search the Financial Executives International (FAI) website, www.financialexecutives.org, and the New York State Society of CPAs website, www.nysscpa.org, where access to their “CPA Journal” is available. Both of these sites do, what seems to me, a respectable job of putting useful accounting standards-related information on their sites. Searching these sites can be efficiently done, and the results might further one’s understanding of a standard, how it should be interpreted, and in making accounting entries decisions based on the standard. d. Search one or more of the major search engines (www.search.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.search.msn.com, and www.askjeeves.com) using very specific keywords that have been refined, as you have proceeded along in steps a, b, and c. Some “accounting problems” are likely to be very unique, and/or especially complex, and various organizational entities, other than the ones identified in steps a, b, and c, may have on their websites good analysis and guidance related to the accounting standards and the treatments related to these problems. e. Search the US sites of the four major accounting firms: Ernst &Young, www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/US/Home; PriceWaterhouseCoopers, www.pwcglobal.com/gx/eng/main/home/index.html (and go to the US page); Deloitte, www.deloitte.com/dtt/home/0,1044,sid%253D2000,00.html; and KPMG www.us.kpmg.com. These major accounting firms are very up to date on the accounting standards, and, should you still need more understanding, after steps a to d, these companies possibly have on their websites information and analysis not found elsewhere on the Internet. In executing this search strategy, identified in steps a to e, here are some points to keep in mind: a. Many standards, and related documents, will be PDF documents, which need to be downloaded, and then further searched. The latest version of the Adobe Reader is recommended. The reader has a fairly good document search capability. b. Search terms (keywords) used are important for the results obtained. Search terms should be improved upon as the search evolves. Paying attention to what works in search, as you do your searches, should improve your search terms. c. Do not expect always to find definitive answers. For many “accounting problems”, interpretation and good judgment are required. Searching the Internet and researching the accounting standards and information found, hopefully, will improve your judgments on the accounting entries needed to be made. please click here to go to the next and final page |