What are the major Accounting Literature indexes and services?
These web indexes and services provide access to the many standards and reference tools needed by accountants, CPAs, other finance and accounting professionals, students, and researchers. They contain access to generally-accepted authoritative accounting procedures and standards, interpretations, and literature. The services often contain tax resources, as well.
- CCH Accounting Research Manager (Wolters Kluwer)ARM summarizes accounting matters, and presents them in a topical order arranged by FASB Codification, which facilitates research and staying current. ARM also features easy access to primary source data including current accounting standards from a number of sources. It provides daily and weekly news updates, and interpretations and summaries on emerging accounting topics. Sources covered include AICPA, FASB, SEC, IASB, IFRS and more. Updated daily.
- AICPA - Online Professional LibraryThe American Institute for Certified Public Accountants offers an online package that includes the AICPA Professional Standards, Technical Practice Aids, AICPA Audit and Accounting Guides and Audit Risk Alerts, and Accounting Trends and Techniques. Options to bundle with the FASB Pronouncements are also available.
- Bloomberg Tax (formerly called BNA Tax and Accounting)Includes income portfolios, estates, gifts & trust portfolios, daily tax report highlights, tax insights and commentary, Tax Management Memorandum, and primary tax sources such as Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, legislation and much more.
- CCH AnswerConnect (formerly Intelliconnect, Omnitax)Searchable full-text database of the authoritative accounting pronouncements. Contains the entire library of CCH tax publications, notably the Standard Federal Tax Reporter, the Federal Estate and Gift Tax Reporter, all 50 State Law Reporters, tax law, cases, IRS code and letter rulings, the U.S. Master Tax Guide, and in-depth analysis of tax issues
- Checkpoint Edge (RIA, Thomson Reuters)Contains the AICPA Library of authoritative literatures. This research database includes complete tax, tax law, expert analysis, treatises, tax-related news, cases and rulings, etc. Covers federal, state, local and international issues. Includes the Federal Tax Coordinator Cases, Rulings and Other Primary Source Materials. Includes the Journal of Taxation, Practical Tax Strategies, Estate Planning Journal, Journal of Multi-state Taxation and Incentives, Journal of Taxation of Employee Benefits and the Journal of International Taxation
- FASB Accounting Standards Codification & GASB Governmental Accounting Research System OnlineThe American Accounting Association (AAA) provides access to accounting faculty and students at colleges and universities worldwide to the online FASB Accounting Standards Codification Professional View and the Governmental Accounting Research System™ (GARS Online). GARS Online provides efficient, effective, and easy access to all U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and related literature for state and local governments. This Academic Accounting Access program is offered exclusively to accounting programs for $250 on an annual basis.
- ProQuest Accounting, Tax and Banking CollectionThis collection brings together highly ranked global and scholarly journals with key resources for locating quick and precise results covering current news and topics, as well as the trends and history influencing important accounting and tax issues of the day.
- Tax NotesThis site has both subscription and free content. The subscription includes daily news, analysis, and commentary for tax professionals produced by Tax Analysts, a non-partisan, nonprofit publisher of news and commentary about federal, state, and international tax issues. The Free Resources section is a treasure trove of content, including: featured news, reports and research; the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, final tax regulations and related documents; a weekly podcast; video content; the online Tax History Museum, and archives of 1040 forms and the presidential tax returns.
Where can I read more about the basic reference sources for accounting literature?
In addition to the sources already indicated, those seeking more information about accounting information sources can read the following articles.
- Bradley, Ann. "Electronic Sources of GAAP Literature." Academic BRASS 2, issue 1 (2004). "I will be focusing on what’s available in electronic format. Taking into consideration the number of GAAP authorities, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn there is no one source for all GAAP literature. One-stop shopping is further complicated by the fact that only one vendor is currently authorized to sell Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) materials to academic libraries".
- Flynn, David A. "Core Accounting Web Resources." Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship 8, no. 2 (2002): 3-13. This chapter outlines key Web resources for the accounting field, including sites of professional organizations and associations.
- Fridson, Martin & Fernando Alvarez. "The Adversarial Nature of Financial Reporting," Ch.1 of Financial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide, Fifth Edition (Wiley, 2022). pp. 1-29. Financial statement analysis is an essential skill in a variety of occupations, including investment management, corporate finance, commercial lending, and the extension of credit. Comparability, after all, is a cornerstone of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It might therefore seem to follow that financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP necessarily produce fair and useful indications of relative value. Analysts who believe in the inherent reliability of GAAP numbers and the good faith of corporate managers misunderstand the essential nature of financial reporting. Aside from accounting rules, cash flows, and definitions of standard ratios, analysts must consider the motivations of corporate managers, as well as the dynamics of the organizations in which they work. Neglecting these factors will lead to false assumptions about the underlying intent of issuers’ communications with users of financial statements.
- Gibson, Charles. "Library gems: Relevant source of data for the accountant." The CPA Journal 64, issue 4 (1994): 52-56. The typical business library offers several non-tax related publications that can prove to be valuable sources of data for accountants. Among the many references that should interest accounting professionals are the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, the Dept. of Commerce Financial Report, the Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios, Dun & Bradstreet's Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios, and Annual Statement Studies. Other informative materials that are worth noting are America's Corporate Families, The Million Dollar Directory, The Reference Book of Corporate Managements, Moody's Industrial Manual, and The International Directory of International Affiliations. There are also various publications from Standard & Poor's that are mines of information, including the Analyst's Handbook, Corporation Bond Guide, Corporation Stock Guide, and Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives.
- Hines, Todd. United States Accounting Standards – An overview of GAAP. Academic BRASS 1, Issue 4 (March 2004). https://www.ala.org/rusa/sites/ala.org.rusa/files/content/sections/brass/Publications/Acad_BRASS/2004_spring_hines.pdf
- Kirkwood, Hal. "Chapter 8: Accounting and Taxation." In Strauss’s Handbook of Business Information: a Guide for Librarians, Students and Researchers, 4th ed., pp. 147-76. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2020. Chapter 8 titled "Accounting & Taxation" provides basic concepts and information sources (dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias...)
- Klopper, Susan M. "Sailing on the AccountanSea: Accounting research sources." Database, 22, issue 3 (1999): 65-71. The world of accounting can be very confusing, but there are aids to help those in need of it. An explanation is given of the context in which accounting standards exist and of what accountants usually need to know. A miniglossary of accounting terminology is also provided.
- Rubin, Steven, "The House of GAAP." Journal of Accountancy 157, Issue 6 (1984): 122-127. There is a profusion of statements, opinions, and other pronouncements from a variety of sources pertaining to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Statement on Auditing Standards No. 5 clarifies the order in which earn principle should be considered. The analogy of a house is used to explain the GAAP hierachy. The analogy depicts the GAAP house as having 4 floors resting on the foundation of the basic concepts and broad principles that underlie financial reporting. The first floor is composed of pronouncements of the authoritative body designated to establish accounting principles. The 2nd floor consists of pronouncements of bodies composed of knowledgeable accountants who follow due process procedures for the purpose of establishing accounting principles. Floor 3 involves practices or pronouncements widely recognized as being generally accepted because they represent prevelant practice in a particular industry. Other accounting literature is grouped as the 4th floor of the GAAP house.
Top Journals
There are five accounting research journals that are widely-regarded as the top peer-reviewed titles in the field of accounting.They are:
- The Accounting Review
- Journal of Accounting Research
- Review of Accounting Studies
- Journal of Accounting & Economics
- Accounting: Organizations & Society
These and related journals can be accessed for a fee from their publisher, via selected professional accounting/taxation information services (CCH, RIA, Bloomberg), or in libraries' business and accounting databases that aggregate journals (Ebsco, Gale, ProQuest, JSTOR). Coverage varies.
- AAA Journals
The American Accounting Association publishes 17 journals focused on accounting, auditing, forensics, taxation, emerging technologies and accounting education. The AAA is the largest community of accountants in academia and publishes key journals in the fields of accounting, auditing and taxation that address issues in accounting scholarship, education and practice.
- AICPA JournalsProbably the best-known and widely available is Journal of Accountancy. the official journal of the AICPA. For a full list of publications, click on the "Resources" tab on the top of the page and select "publications" on the drop-down menu.
