Other Databases for Accounting Authorities
Subscribe to at least one of the two major competing commercial accounting databases used to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of accounting and auditing research. These databases are CCH's Accounting Research Manager (ARM) and Thomson Reuters's Checkpoint financial research library, commonly known as RIA Checkpoint.
RIA Checkpoint is primarily known as a tax database and is available at checkpoint.riag.com. However, it has an accounting and auditing research library available for a premium-cost subscription. This library provides standards by the FASB, IASB, and AICPA, as shown in Exhibit 4-6.
Exhibit 4-6 RIA Checkpoint's Financial Library
RIA Checkpoint helps to maintain one's currency in various topics with newsletters and financial news headlines on its website. Searching in RIA Checkpoint for accounting and auditing authorities is similar to that in tax. However, the browsing method is more widely used for the Codification. Keyword searches and access by citation are also possible.
RIA Checkpoint includes various ancillary AICPA materials, such as the AICPA Technical Practice Aids. This includes selected AICPA Technical Question and Answer; Trust Service Principles, Criteria, and Illustrations of the AICPA Assurance Services Executive Committee; a listing of issue papers of the AICPA Accounting Standards Division; and Statements of Position of the AICPA Audit and Attest Standards Division. The AICPA Technical Practice Aids also includes PCAOB Staff Guidance.
Example
A question has arisen about depreciating the cost of replaced cargo planes.
One may have to pursue several lines of inquiry. One might logically go first to search in the codification for “depreciation.” An overwhelming result of more than 350 mentions appears. Thus one should browse by selecting a topic. While depreciation does not appear as a topic, one might suspect looking under assets for the topic of property, plant, and equipment. If one views the topic further, one will see that airlines is a specialized industry, under ASC 908. One might also try nonauthoritative sources such as Audit and Accounting Guides to see if a guide exists on the airline industry.
Available at www.accountingresearchmanager.com is CCH's Accounting Research Manager (ARM) database. This modular database provides accounting, auditing, and governmental accounting standards, interpretations, and news. CCH's ARM provides insightful interpretations on GAAP, GAAS, and SEC rules, as shown in Exhibit 4-7.
Exhibit 4-7 Accounting Research Manager's Opening Screen
Source: © CCH Incorporated, a Wolters Kluwer Business. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of Accounting Research Manager.
This database includes complete authoritative texts of major U.S. and international accounting standards, AICPA technical practice aids, and AICPA Audit and Accounting Guides for various industries. The ARM database also maintains one's currency in these topics.
Note that the ARM database is modular in subscription in order to tailor its information content to the user's needs at a more affordable price. ARM will show the organization for its entire database and then gray out the parts of the database that are not part of the subscription. ARM's organization for IFRS is shown in Exhibit 4-8. An index of accounting topics is also available in ARM.
Exhibit 4-8 CCH ARM's Organization for IFRS
Source: © CCH Incorporated, a Wolters Kluwer Business. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of Accounting Research Manager.
For comparison, RIA Checkpoint's organization under the table of contents search method is shown for international accounting authorities in Exhibit 4-9. Other search methods, such as a search for international authorities, are shown in Exhibit 4-10.
Exhibit 4-9 RIA Checkpoint's Organization for International Authorities
Source: Checkpoint® screenshot, published online at http://checkpoint.riag.com. © 2011. Thomson Reuters/RIA. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express consent of Thomson/RIA.
Exhibit 4-10 RIA Checkpoint's Search for International Authorities
Source: Checkpoint® screenshot, published online at http://checkpoint.riag.com. © 2011. Thomson Reuters/RIA. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express consent of Thomson/RIA.
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