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There are general rules and concepts that govern the field of accounting. These general rules-referred to as basic accounting principles and guidelines form the groundwork on which more detailed, complicated, and legalistic accounting rules are based. For example, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) uses the basic accounting principles and guidelines as a basis for their own detailed and comprehensive set of accounting rules and standards.
The phrase "generally accepted accounting principles" (or "GAAP") consists of three important sets of rules: (1) the basic accounting principles and guidelines, (2) the detailed rules and standards issued by FASB and its predecessor the Accounting Principles Board (APB), and (3) the generally accepted industry practices.
If a company distributes its financial statements to the public, it is required to follow generally accepted accounting principles in the preparation of those statements. Further, if a company's stock is publicly traded, federal law requires the company's financial statements be audited by independent public accountants. Both the company's management and the independent accountants must certify that the financial statements and the related notes to the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP.
GAAP is exceedingly useful because it attempts to standardize and regulate accounting definitions, assumptions, and methods. Because of generally accepted accounting principles we are able to assume that there is consistency from year to year in the methods used to prepare a company's financial statements. And although variations may exist, we can make reasonably confident conclusions when comparing one company to another, or comparing one company's financial statistics to the statistics for its industry. Over the years the generally accepted accounting principles have become more complex because financial transactions have become more complex.
Basic Accounting Principles and Guidelines
Since GAAP is founded on the basic accounting principles and guidelines, we can better understand GAAP if we understand those accounting principles. The table below lists the ten main accounting principles.
1. Economic Entity Assumption2. Monetary Unit Assumption3. Time Period Assumption4. Cost Principle5. Full Disclosure Principle6. Going Concern Principle7. Matching Principle8. Revenue Recognition Principle9. Materiality10. Conservatism
If a situation arises where there are two acceptable alternatives for reporting an item, conservatism directs the accountant to choose the alternative that will result in less net income and/or less asset amount. Conservatism helps the accountant to "break a tie." It does not direct accountants to be conservative. Accountants are expected to be unbiased and objective.
The basic accounting principle of conservatism leads accountants to anticipate or disclose losses, but it does not allow a similar action for gains. For example, potential losses from lawsuits will be reported on the financial statements or in the notes, but potential gains will not be reported. Also, an accountant may write inventory down to an amount that is lower than the original cost, but will not write inventory up to an amount higher than the original cost.
Other Characteristics of Accounting Information
When financial reports are generated by professional accountants, we have certain expectations of the information they present to us:
1. Reliable, Verifiable, and Objective
2. Consistency
3. Comparability
A. Balance Sheet
B. Income Statement
C. The Notes To Financial Statements
Accounting Concepts and Principles are a set of broad conventions that have been devised to provide a basic framework for financial reporting. As financial reporting involves significant professional judgments by accountants, these concepts and principles ensure that the users of financial information are not mislead by the adoption of accounting policies and practices that go against the spirit of the accountancy profession. Accountants must therefore actively consider whether the accounting treatments adopted are consistent with the accounting concepts and principles.
In order to ensure application of the accounting concepts and principles, major accounting standard-setting bodies have incorporated them into their reporting frameworks such as the IASB Framework.
Following is a list of the major accounting concepts and principles:
Accounting Concepts and Principles are a set of broad conventions that have been devised to provide a basic framework for financial reporting. As financial reporting involves significant professional judgments by accountants, these concepts and principles ensure that the users of financial information are not mislead by the adoption of accounting policies and practices that go against the spirit of the accountancy profession. Accountants must therefore actively consider whether the accounting treatments adopted are consistent with the accounting concepts and principles.
In order to ensure application of the accounting concepts and principles, major accounting standard-setting bodies have incorporated them into their reporting frameworks such as the IASB Framework.
Following is a list of the major
Accounting concepts and principles:
Relevance
Reliability
Matching Concept
Timeliness
Neutrality
Faithful Representation
Prudence
Completeness
Single Economic Entity Concept
Money Measurement Concept
Comparability/Consistency
Understandability
Materiality
Going Concern
Accruals
Business Entity
Substance over Form
Realization Concept
Duality Concept
check principles of Accounting Book
recording all the financial activities in an order
It's four
