US GAAP — FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC)
US GAAP is issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Since 1 July 2009 all authoritative non-governmental US GAAP lives in a single source, the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC). It applies to US public companies (as required by the SEC), private companies, and not-for-profits that report under US GAAP. The ASC is organised hierarchically into Areas → Topics (3-digit) → Subtopics → Sections → Paragraphs.
asc.fasb.org is the canonical home; per-topic deep links use the pattern
asc.fasb.org/<topic>. Full codification text requires a free "Basic View"
login, so confirm a deep link in a logged-in browser before relying on it. The
former Presentation topics 215 and 225 are withdrawn/superseded and are
no longer live topics.
ASC structure by Area & key Topics
| ASC | Title | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 105 | Generally Accepted Accounting Principles | What constitutes authoritative GAAP | asc.fasb.org/105 |
| 200s | Presentation (Area) | How financial statements are presented | asc.fasb.org |
| 205 | Presentation of Financial Statements | Overall presentation, going concern, discontinued operations | asc.fasb.org/205 |
| 210 | Balance Sheet | Classification, offsetting | asc.fasb.org/210 |
| 220 | Income Statement — Reporting Comprehensive Income | Comprehensive income / OCI | asc.fasb.org/220 |
| 230 | Statement of Cash Flows | Operating / investing / financing | asc.fasb.org/230 |
| 235 | Notes to Financial Statements | Accounting-policy disclosures | asc.fasb.org/235 |
| 250 | Accounting Changes and Error Corrections | Changes in principle/estimate, restatements | asc.fasb.org/250 |
| 300s | Assets (Area) | Asset recognition and measurement | asc.fasb.org |
| 310 | Receivables | Loans and trade receivables | asc.fasb.org/310 |
| 320 | Investments — Debt Securities | HTM / AFS / trading | asc.fasb.org/320 |
| 323 | Investments — Equity Method and Joint Ventures | Equity-method accounting | asc.fasb.org/323 |
| 326 | Financial Instruments — Credit Losses | CECL expected-loss model | asc.fasb.org/326 |
| 330 | Inventory | Cost, lower of cost or NRV | asc.fasb.org/330 |
| 350 | Intangibles — Goodwill and Other | Goodwill, intangibles, internal-use software | asc.fasb.org/350 |
| 360 | Property, Plant, and Equipment | PP&E, depreciation, impairment | asc.fasb.org/360 |
| 400s | Liabilities (Area) | Liability recognition and measurement | asc.fasb.org |
| 405 | Liabilities | General liabilities, extinguishment | asc.fasb.org/405 |
| 450 | Contingencies | Loss / gain contingencies | asc.fasb.org/450 |
| 470 | Debt | Classification, modifications, convertibles | asc.fasb.org/470 |
| 480 | Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity | Mandatorily redeemable instruments | asc.fasb.org/480 |
| 500s | Equity (Area) | Equity instruments and transactions | asc.fasb.org |
| 505 | Equity | Stock issuance, treasury stock, dividends | asc.fasb.org/505 |
| 600s | Revenue (Area) | Revenue recognition | asc.fasb.org |
| 606 | Revenue from Contracts with Customers | 5-step model; converged with IFRS 15 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
| 610 | Other Income | Gains/losses outside 606 (e.g. sale of nonfinancial assets) | asc.fasb.org/610 |
| 700s | Expenses (Area) | Cost and expense recognition | asc.fasb.org |
| 705 | Cost of Sales and Services | Cost of sales, vendor consideration | asc.fasb.org/705 |
| 718 | Compensation — Stock Compensation | Share-based payments | asc.fasb.org/718 |
| 730 | Research and Development | R&D — generally expensed as incurred | asc.fasb.org/730 |
| 740 | Income Taxes | Deferred taxes, uncertain tax positions | asc.fasb.org/740 |
| 800s | Broad Transactions (Area) | Cross-cutting transactions | asc.fasb.org |
| 805 | Business Combinations | Acquisition method, goodwill | asc.fasb.org/805 |
| 810 | Consolidation | VIEs, NCI, consolidation policy | asc.fasb.org/810 |
| 815 | Derivatives and Hedging | Derivatives, hedge accounting | asc.fasb.org/815 |
| 820 | Fair Value Measurement | Fair-value hierarchy (Levels 1–3) | asc.fasb.org/820 |
| 830 | Foreign Currency Matters | Translation, remeasurement | asc.fasb.org/830 |
| 842 | Leases | ROU asset + lease liability; dual classification | asc.fasb.org/842 |
| 860 | Transfers and Servicing | Sale vs secured borrowing, securitization | asc.fasb.org/860 |
| 900s | Industry (Area) | Industry-specific guidance | asc.fasb.org |
| 942 | Financial Services — Depository and Lending | Banks / thrifts | asc.fasb.org/942 |
| 954 | Health Care Entities | Health-care industry | asc.fasb.org/954 |
| 958 | Not-for-Profit Entities | NFP statements / contributions | asc.fasb.org/958 |
Deep dive — ASC 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers
ASC 606 establishes a single 5-step model, converged with IFRS 15 (identical 5-step model; minor differences remain, e.g. the collectibility threshold and interim disclosures).
| Step | Requirement | Ref. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Identify the contract | Approved, rights & payment terms identifiable, commercial substance, collection probable | ASC 606-10-25 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
| 2 — Identify performance obligations | Each distinct good/service (or series) promised | ASC 606-10-25 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
| 3 — Determine the transaction price | Consideration expected, incl. variable, financing, non-cash, payable-to-customer | ASC 606-10-32 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
| 4 — Allocate the transaction price | Allocate on relative standalone selling prices | ASC 606-10-32 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
| 5 — Recognize revenue | When (point in time) or as (over time) each obligation is satisfied | ASC 606-10-25 | asc.fasb.org/606 |
Deep dive — ASC 842 Leases
ASC 842 puts essentially all leases on the lessee balance sheet (a right-of-use asset + lease liability) but retains a dual lessee classification — finance vs operating — that drives different income-statement treatment. This differs from IFRS 16, which uses a single on-balance-sheet model.
| Key point | Requirement | Ref. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-balance-sheet recognition | ROU asset + lease liability for virtually all leases (>12 months) | ASC 842-20 | asc.fasb.org/842 |
| Dual lessee classification | Lease is a finance or an operating lease per the criteria | ASC 842-10-25 | asc.fasb.org/842 |
| Finance lease P&L | Front-loaded: separate interest expense + ROU amortization | ASC 842-20 | asc.fasb.org/842 |
| Operating lease P&L | Single straight-line lease expense | ASC 842-20 | asc.fasb.org/842 |
| Lessor accounting | Three categories: operating, sales-type, direct-financing | ASC 842-30 | asc.fasb.org/842 |
The operating/finance split is the key conflict with IFRS 16's single model.
Special-purpose frameworks (OCBOA)
Many US private entities — especially small businesses — do not report under full US GAAP. They use a recognised special-purpose framework (historically "OCBOA", other comprehensive basis of accounting), permitted under AICPA AU-C 800. For a US-market bookkeeping product these are core, not edge cases.
| Basis | What it is | Who uses it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income-tax basis | Statements on the same basis as the entity's tax return (Internal Revenue Code) | The most common SMB basis — "books on tax basis" | AICPA |
| Cash basis | Revenue/expense recognised when cash moves | Very common for the smallest entities & many non-profits | AICPA |
| Modified-cash basis | Cash basis with selected accrual modifications (fixed assets, payroll taxes) | Common SMB middle ground | AICPA |
| Regulatory basis | A basis a regulator prescribes | Regulated entities | AU-C 800 |
| FRF for SMEs | AICPA's non-authoritative, historical-cost, reduced-disclosure framework for owner-managed private companies | Optional alternative to GAAP/tax basis | AICPA — FRF for SMEs |
These are full bases of accounting (they sit in the Standards policy alongside US GAAP). How the resulting statements are produced and reported — preparation / compilation / review under AICPA SSARS, or SEC Reg S-X/S-K for public companies — is an output layer covered on the output formats page, not a basis of accounting.