Guide to Finding Accounting Information

Guide to Finding Accounting Information

*PAGE CONTENTS:* (Click to go to)
Accounting Standards	Articles/Literature	Websites	Business Subject Guide
Reports, Filings & Statements	Electronic Journals	Other Sources	COBA Blackboard
Tax Research	Associations	Glossary of Financial Terms	ASU Student Email

Accounting Standards & Interpretations

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Accounting standards, principles and authoritative literature are produced by various accounting bodies and organizations to ensure uniformity in accounting procedures. This makes it easier to compare company financial statements and holds companies and government entities accountable to the public. Listed below are the different types of publications produced by accounting standard setting bodies.

Accounting Research Manager

Database of financial reporting literature including Financial Accounting Research System (FARS), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) literature and standards.

Accounting Standards Board (ASB)

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASAB)

Federal Reserve Board (a.k.a. the "Fed")

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

General Accounting Office (GAO)

Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)

International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)

Annual Reports, Filings & Financial Statements

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There are several types of financial statements. For information on assets and liabilities, look at the balance sheet. For revenues and profit, look at the income statement. Public companies report their financial statements in several different filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition to the numbers, these filings and reports may contain text with more information about the company.

Hoover’s Company Records

Search for your company to see a fact sheet. Use the menu on the left side of the screen to get annual or quarterly financial information.

Mergent Online

This database contains very detailed information. Search for your company, then use the “company Financials” tab to get data and analysis. Use the “EDGAR” tab to view the complete text of SEC filings; use the “Annual Reports” tab to view a PDF version of the company’s annual report to shareholders.

Annual Statement Studies (eStatement Studies)

Uses more than 190,000 financial statements to produce industry composites of financial data. Balance sheet and income statement information is shown in common size format, with each item a percentage of total assets and sales. Common size statements are computed for each individual statement in an industry group, then aggregated and averaged. eStatement Studies is organized according to the NAICS. Data is presented in six areas, which can be selected from the menu-bar below the data set: The three sets of Financial Ratio Benchmarks data (FRB assets, FRB History, and FRB Sales), and the three sets of Industry Default Probabilities and Cash Flow Measures data (IDP Assets, IDP History, and IDP Sales).

EDGAR (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml)

View the complete text of companies’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Includes 10-K (annual) and 10-Q (quarterly) reports, proxies, and others.

Tax Research

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RIA Checkpoint

Includes analysis and primary accounting and tax resources including tax law, WG&L treatises and journals, tax-related news, cases, and rulings.

Articles/Literature

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Accounting Research Manager

Database of financial reporting literature including American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) literature and standards.

Business Source Premier

Provides full text for over 2,280 journals covering all aspect of business. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 2,440 journals. This database contains popular business publications such as Business Week, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and hundreds of scholarly, peer reviewed journals. Also included is Wall Street Words, a dictionary of financial terms, linked directly to words within the citations and full text.

Business & Company Resource Center

For most specific results, use the search box at the top of the page to search for your company. Click on the “News/Magazines” tab to see a list of articles on the company.

ABI/INFORM Complete

ABI/INFORM offers articles from a wide array of sources, including journals, industry publications, regional business news publications, and the Wall Street Journal. For best results, click on the green “Advanced Search” tab at the top of the screen. Put your company name in the search box, and change “Citation and abstract” to “Company/Org.” You can use the tabs at the top of the results list to look at trade publications or newspapers only.

LexisNexis Academic Universe

This is a comprehensive full-text database covering business, news, legal, company and medical information.

Electronic Journals (e-Journals)

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An e-Journal (a.k.a. Electronic Journal) is an electronic version of a journal, which can be accessed and read via the Internet. The journal is usually, but not always, also available in paper format.

Wall Street Journal

Other Selected Titles:

Premier Accounting Journals

Accounting review

Accounting, organizations and society

Contemporary accounting research

Journal of accounting & economics

Journal of accounting research

Review of accounting studies

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General Accounting Journals

Abacus

Accounting horizons

Journal of accounting and public policy

Journal of accounting auditing & finance

Journal of accounting literature

Journal of business finance & accounting

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Specialty Accounting Journals

Auditing

Behavioral research in accounting

CPA journal

CPA letter

Issues in accounting education

Journal of information systems

Journal of management accounting research

Journal of the American Taxation Association

Browse/Search for additional journals by Title or Industry:

Browse e-journals by TITLE

Browse e-journals by SUBJECT

Find E-journals by TITLE or ISSN

Search for KEYWORDS in e-journals

Accounting & Auditing Associations

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American Accounting Association

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

Beta Alpha Psi

Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Federation of Schools of Accountancy

Financial Executives International

Institute of Internal Auditors

Institute of Management Accountants

International Federation of Accountants

National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

Websites

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General Accounting Related Sites

AccountingWEB

Tax and Accounting Sites Directory

Professional Service Firms

Deloitte & Touche

Ernst & Young

KPMG

Price Waterhouse Coopers

Other Sources

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Glossary of Financial Terms (S&P NetAdvantage): Click on the “Glossary” link at the very top of the page.

Business Subject Guide

Library’s Business Administration Main Page

Business Index ASAP

Provides in-depth research on management issues, economic indicators and business theories and practices, as well as on the activities of companies and industries worldwide.

Morningstar

A global investment research firm that provides investment information, data, and analysis of stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, separate accounts, and variable annuity/life sub-accounts.

Reference USA