Financial Accounting Standards No. 5

Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been the designated organisation in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting in the United States of America. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports. They are officially recognised as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission (Financial Reporting Release No. 1, Section 101) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Rule 203, Rules of Professional Conduct, as amended May 1973 and May 1979).

The stated mission of the Financial Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information.

FASB Codification

Effective 1 July 2009, the FASB reorganised its standards into the FASB Codification. The Codification is an online research system representing the single source of authoritative nongovernmental US GAAP. Subscriptions to the FASB Codification are available in two ways:

• Professional view, which provides topically organised access to all authoritative nongovernmental US GAAP, including relevant SEC content, with a wide range of supporting utilities including text searching, cross-references, and access to previous versions of content. Annual subscription is US$850 for a single concurrent use. Accounting educators and students can get free access.
• Basic view, which provides topically organised access to all authoritative nongovernmental US GAAP, including relevant SEC content, with limited supporting utilities. Available at no charge.