Question

Imagine that you work in a specialized industry such as oil and gas, financial services, insurance, etc. If your boss were to ask you for the accounting standards related to your company or a specialized accounting dilemma, where would you look for authoritative guidance? What databases are available?

Answer 1

Authoritative guidance is available for accounting standards depending on which accounting standards are applicable.

For example, US GAAP standards are set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). FASB provides accounting standards documentation, notes, guidance etc. for US GAAP. This guidance is available on the FASB website

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) are issued by the IFRS Foundation and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They provide guidance, notes and documentation on IFRS standards

Indian GAAP or Indian Accounting Standards (IAS) are issued by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). They provide documentation, guidance and notes on their websites.