• Be certain you understand the definition of terms--use the Master Glossary after you log in

• Use quotation marks to search for phrases of more than one word, such as "capitalized interest"

• Secondary sources, such as articles and books, may help you understand the official Codification. See suggestions under Library Resources to Help Understand the Codification.

Some general tips for analyzing the Codification's text:

From the Notice to Constituents

•  Language changes from the previous standards include:

Entity replaces words such as company, organization, enterprise, firm and preparer.

Intra-entity replaces intercompany

Shall replaces "is" "required to," "must" and similar terms

Would and should are used to represent examples and hypothetical situations

Baruch's Stan Ross Department of  Accountancy has paid the Financial Accounting Foundation and American Accounting Association so that Baruch accountancy students and faculty may have Academic Access to the Professional View of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. 

Accountancy students must obtain the username and password  information from their professors. The Newman Library does not have this information.

To logon:

Go to: http://asc.fasb.org/

On the right side, in the Academic User box, click on Academic Accounting  access

Then, click Registered User Login and enter the username and password you have received from your professor.

If you don't have the login information, all Baruch students and faculty may access the Codification through CCH Accounting Research Manager, a database available through the Newman Library's databases.  Users will need to provide their Baruch user names and passwords.

Use quotation marks for searching phrases (two words or more) Example: "preexisting gains and losses"

• Search by a known citation in the Codification search box
• Drill down the seven categories, expand topics and subtopics to find what you need
• Enter keyword or keywords in search box
• Select advanced search, which allows the most options

Additional ways to search in the Professional View and CCH Accounting Research Manager:

Cross Reference enables researchers to cross reference between the superceded standards and the Codification. Either: Enter the information about the earlier standard to learn where in the Codification the language is now located, or enter information about the Codification to identify the standards that contain the language referenced in the Codification.  See Cross Reference help.

Join Sections enables researchers to select Codification content that spans multiple topics and subtopics. A topic and section must be selected. See Join Sections help.

CPA Jeff Sailor has two free tutorials on Youtube.com

Part 1 includes Codification structure and how to use it

Part 2 describes Codification research options

Toerner, M. C. (2009). A guide to using the Accounting Standards Codification. The CPA Journal, 79(2), 20-25. Toerner is a CPA and an accounting professor.

Ford, C.O. and Thomas, C. William. (2008). Test-driving the Codification, Journal of Accountancy. 206(2), 62+.  The authors are CPAs and accounting professors.