The Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to introduce a new official accounting standards codification on July 1 that will supersede other sources, including the AICPA.
The FASB Accounting Standards Codification will provide an authoritative source for nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, superseding the existing literature from FASB, the American Institute of CPAs, the Emerging Issues Task Force and other sources.
After that date, only one level of authoritative GAAP will exist. All other literature will be considered non-authoritative. "When the codification goes live on July 1, 2009, U.S. GAAP will be completely reconfigured in a way that will vastly improve the ease of researching U.S. GAAP issues, superseding existing authoritative literature- including FASB's Original Pronouncements," said FASB Chairman Robert Herz (pictured) in a statement. "Preparers and auditors of financial statements need to familiarize themselves with the changes so that they are ready for the switch."
On Jan. 15, 2008, FASB made the codification available for free for an extended verification period and asked for comments. The codification reorganizes thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and displays all the topics using a consistent structure. Also included is relevant guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission that will follow the same topical structure in separate sections in the codification. The codification does not change GAAP, but instead introduces a new structure that organizes GAAP into a more user-friendly online research system.
