United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ( US-GAAP [ gæp ]; German: Generally recognized accounting principles of the United States ) are US accounting standards and generally accepted accounting practices . For companies and private law organizations, the accounting standards recognized by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as US GAAP are of the utmost importance as they are recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US regulator for securities and stock exchanges and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The SEC is empowered to dictate accounting rules for companies and organizations operating in the US capital market.

The US-GAAP of the FASB were essentially developed to provide better information to current and potential investors and are shaped by this objective. They originally consisted of a series of individual regulations issued by various bodies. In 2009, the FASB selected the individual regulations it considered relevant, systematized them and summarized them in the Accounting Standards Codification (FASB ASC). This is now the sole source of FASB-authorized US GAAP along with SEC statements.

In addition to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the FASB's US GAAP is an internationally recognized accounting standard .

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), an accounting body organized under private law, develops US GAAP for accounting in the states , cities and towns in the USA. The following presentation relates to US GAAP for companies and private law organizations.

Characteristics and goals

The US-GAAP of the FASB arose from regulations of individual cases. These regulations have been systematized and summarized in the Accounting Standards Codification. Compared to IFRS, US GAAP are less principle-based and regulate matters in great detail.

The main aim of the annual financial statements according to US-GAAP is to inform external investors, i. H. Investor for equity and debt . The overriding principle of " fair presentation " is intended to present the economic situation and the company's potential for success as well as possible. In contrast to the annual financial statements prepared under German law, the annual financial statements according to US GAAP do not have a dividend assessment function (determination of the tax burden and dividends on shares). On the one hand, this is due to the fact that in the USA there is a strict separation between annual financial statements under commercial law and tax law. As a consequence, the annual financial statements have no relevance for the calculation of the tax volume. Furthermore, the annual financial statements according to US-GAAP are not used to determine the dividend for company owners, as the amount of the distribution is decided solely by the Board of Directors .

The principle of prudence in accounting according to US GAAP is not as important as it is in accounting according to German commercial law.

Structure of the annual financial statements

The annual financial statements according to US-GAAP consist of five parts:

Accounting bodies under private law as the publisher of US GAAP

In response to the stock market crash of 1929 in the USA, which was also due to the lack of accounting regulation at the time, various private accounting bodies have been commissioned since 1930 to determine the generally recognized accounting rules, US GAAP. The focus was on accounting for capital market-oriented companies. The committees then developed standards and statements on various accounting topics, but not a closed set of rules. The recognition of the accounting committees by the SEC and the AICPA made their standards and pronouncements binding. Even if several private accounting bodies were replaced by successor bodies, the standards and pronouncements of the previous bodies initially retained their validity. There were also numerous committees that issued authorized interpretations of GAAP.

Since 1973, the SEC and the AICPA have recognized the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as the publisher of accounting standards . It thus replaces the Accounting Principles Board and the Committee on Accounting Procedure. The FASB is an independent body that is supported and financed by a foundation, the Financial Accounting Foundation . Its five members come from auditing, industry and universities. The chairman of the FASB is elected by the members of the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation and is responsible to them.

The SEC's own pronouncements on accounting issues, which take precedence over the FASB's US GAAP, are an important addition for capital market-oriented companies.

Accounting Standard Codification

Structure and content of the Accounting Standard Codification

The Accounting Standard Codification (FASB ASC) is a systematic compilation of accounting rules and procedures that are the US GAAP authorized by the FASB. When it was introduced on July 1, 2009, the FASB did not create any new material regulations, but instead adopted the content of the regulations from the previous accounting standards, interpretations and statements that were considered valid at that time. Since its introduction, the FASB has regularly updated the Codification according to a regulated procedure.

The FASB ASC is structured hierarchically and subject-oriented. The codification is subdivided into the four areas of topics, subtopics, sections and subsections and contains around ninety subject areas. The thematic area level is divided into five global areas:

  1. Fundamental Principles: This area contains topics related to overarching principles
  2. Identification: This area only contains topics that deal with the disclosure of certain facts in the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, etc.
  3. Annual financial statement items: This area contains topics relating to the approach and valuation of assets, liabilities, equity, expenses and income.
  4. Cross-item business transactions: This area contains subject areas that deal with classes of business transactions that cannot be assigned to a specific industry.
  5. Industry-specific topics: Issues that only affect certain industries.

The FASB deals with issues that only affect individual sectors, primarily in sector-specific subject areas. All issues that cannot be assigned to a specific industry, but relate to typical classes of business transactions, are summarized in subject areas with cross-item business transactions. The remaining issues are assigned to the first three global areas.

The Accounting Standards Codification is accessible via an internet platform operated by the FASB.

Introduction of the Accounting Standard Codification

Due to the fact that, in addition to the FASB, many committees have issued recognized accounting standards, interpretations and statements, it was necessary to put these in order and set priorities in the event of contradicting statements. The concept of the House of GAAP was developed for this purpose. Despite the House of GAAP, the FASB saw the multitude of standards, interpretations and pronouncements that were unsystematically side by side as a nuisance for US accounting. That is why it has developed the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) as the sole source of the US-GAAP authorized by it and introduced it on July 1, 2009. The previous standards, interpretations and pronouncements therefore essentially lose their validity for the financial statements for fiscal years ending after September 15, 2009. For the development of the Accounting Standards Codification, the FASB selected, systematized and summarized previous standards, interpretations and pronouncements. The content of US GAAP has therefore not changed as a result of its introduction.

Further development of the Accounting Standard Codification

The FASB changes the Accounting Standard Codification through so-called "updates". These describe which parts of the ASC are changing, how they are changing, and why they are changing. They also contain information on when the changes will take effect. However, the "updates" in themselves are not US GAAP.

Based on its work plan, the FASB develops drafts of "updates", so-called " exposure drafts ". It puts this up for public discussion. Anyone can comment on the drafts within a period set individually for each " Exposure Draft ", including via the FASB website. The FASB publishes all comments on the drafts and evaluates the comments. It then decides which changes the final "update" should have compared to the " Exposure Draft ", and then approves and publishes the "update".

Relationship to the International Financial Reporting Standards

US-GAAP and IFRS are the two leading international accounting systems. Since the bodies that issue IFRS were reorganized in 2001, the importance of IFRS at the expense of US GAAP has steadily increased. The obligation of European capital market-oriented companies to apply IFRS in consolidated financial statements from 2005 and the full recognition of IFRS financial statements of foreign issuers by the SEC from 2007 contributed in particular to this.

Since the Norwalk Agreement was signed in 2002, the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which publishes IFRS, have been working together and striving to standardize US GAAP and IFRS. This is particularly supported by the group of the twenty most important industrialized and emerging countries (G 20). The standardization has so far taken place by adapting the respective standards of both sets of rules. However, in addition to large areas of agreement, there are still numerous differences. In 2008 the SEC proposed a plan (roadmap) which, after a number of milestones had been met, would require US issuers to file financial statements with the SEC from 2014 onwards. So far, however, the SEC has not determined whether, from when and to what extent US issuers should actually be required to file IFRS financial statements.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Recognition of the FASB by the SEC (English)
  2. ^ Rule 203, Rules of Professional Conduct, as amended May 1973 and May 1979
  3. ↑ a b Accounting Standards Codification: Notice to Constituents (v 3.0) (English)
  4. ↑ FASB Statement No. 168; Notice to Constituents (v 3.0), page 4; a few selected standards are temporarily retained.
  5. ↑ See FASB Rules of Procedure, as amended on May 1, 2010, page 10
  6. ^ Rules of Procedure of the FASB
  7. ↑ a few selected standards are temporarily valid
  8. ↑ See FASB Rules of Procedure, as amended on May 1, 2010, page 16f.
  9. ↑ SEC Release No. 33-8879: Acceptance from foreign private issuers of Financial Statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards without reconciliation to US GAAP (PDF; 2.6 MB)
  10. ↑ Pellens et al. a .: International accounting, 2011, p. 57.
  11. ↑ SEC Release No. 33-8982: Roadmap for the Potential Use of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards by US Issuers (PDF; 416 kB)