I learned long ago to go to the actual GAAP when I quoted Andersen guidance as being authoritative. Upon review, a partner at Andersen questioned why I was not quoting GAAP. That moment set off a lifetime of learning and reading the actual authoritative literature, not just relying on the summaries put out by firms. I believe those summaries are both highly informative and extremely useful, but they can never replace formal guidance from the standards setters.

I’ve continued this throughout my career by building a library of accounting literature from FASB, accounting firms, the SEC, legal firms and other sources that I constantly reference. About ten years ago I began to summarize what I read so that I could refer to it when needed. That evolved into a newsletter I began sending to contacts and friends. I am now making it available to anyone who signs up on this site. It is firm neutral and hopefully practitioners will find it useful.

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ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING UPDATE

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