Who Says There’s No Free Lunch? Free FASB and GASB Access

Special thanks to Charles B. Hall, CPA CFE of CPA Hall Talk for providing this important update on FASB and GASB access.

Good News!

Here’s some good news if you perform accounting work in the United States: The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) says it will provide free access to FASB and GASB information. What a gift!

Why this matters

The professional view of the FASB Codification has cost more than $800 annually — and that was for just one person. I’m not sure what the price of the Governmental Accounting Research System (GARS) access was, but it will also be free.

So, once these publications are available in complete form (expected this spring), you‘ll have a boatload of free accounting information.

Go deeper

For those who may need to learn, the FASB Codification provides accounting guidance for nongovernmental entities, and the Governmental Accounting Research System provides guidance to governmental bodies.

The FASB Codification provides GAAP for nongovernmental entities (e.g., private entities, nonprofits).

The Governmental Accounting Research System provides GAAP for governmental entities.

FASB and GASB use publicly vetted processes to create professional accounting standards, expose standards drafts and ask for feedback. The respective codifications are an accumulation of the adopted standards over time.

There is limited access available now, but full access to the system is coming soon.

Find the basic view of the FASB Codification here.

Limited access to the Governmental Accounting Research System is here.

Need CPE?

Leita Hart-Fanta’s Financial Statement Analysis course is THIS FRIDAY, February 24. You won’t want to miss this 6-hour class!