Role of GAAP in Accounting

The generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is a set of guidelines governed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). These guidelines inform businesses how to properly record accounting information in a fair and consistent manner.

  1. Components

    • GAAP consists of many components when it comes to financial reporting including principles about how to record inventory costs, debt, long- and short-term investments and taxation. GAAP outlines principles of consistency, reliability, disclosure, comparability and relevance.

    Details

    • Companies are not required to follow these principles, however most investors look for companies who do. GAAP principles are used to standardize how financial statements are prepared. Investors and creditors can easily analyze financial information from business to business because of these principles.

    Features

    • Most large corporations follow GAAP principles when recording financial transactions. This produces consistent, reliable financial statements investors and other stakeholders can trust. GAAP also requires the use of footnotes to explain situations on financial statements that may appear unclear. This also assists in avoiding misleading financial information.

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