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Accounting Standards And Financial Reporting Essay

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According to Spiceland, Sepe, and Tomassini (2007), “accrual accounting is the financial reporting model used by” most corporations; which in turn, enables “investors and creditors … to make their resource allocation decision” (Financial Reporting Case, para. 1). In other words, due to organizations using the same standards for financial reporting, external parties are able to compare the financial condition between businesses (Spiceland, et al., 2007). Although accounting standards have evolved over the decades, there have been recent changes that affect revenue recognition, expense recognition, and other financial reporting standards for nonprofit companies. The development of accounting standards and financial reporting in the United States can be traced to the Industrial Revolution, when the railroad industry sought to raise capital from private and public investors (Accounting Standards, n.d.). However, the stock market crash of 1929 subsequently led the United States into a depression, and increased the demand for expanded government regulation of corporations (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2013). The public felt “that insufficient and misleading financial statement information led to inflated stock prices” (Spiceland, et al., 2007, Historical Perspective and Standards, para. 1). As a result, the United States Congress enacted the 1933 Securities Act that required disclosure for initially offered securities (Spiceland, et al., 2007). On the other hand, the 1934

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