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The Cap Issue Accounting Standards

Satisfactory Essays

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a. In order to develop a comprehensive set of accounting standards, The Committee on Accounting Procedure (CAP) was formed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) in 1939. However, the CAP issue accounting standards case-by case without overall accounting theories. In addition, CAP requires all members be AICPA members, ignoring financial execs, academics and investors. In 1959, CAP was replaced by the Accounting Principles Board (APB). The board members of APB were from different areas, including accounting profession, industry, government, and etc. However, the members of the Board had full time responsibilities elsewhere, which influence the independence of the APB members. Also, the structure of APB was not balanced because there are too much public accountants in it (Schroeder & Clark & Cathey, 2013, p. 8).
Due to increasing politicization, in 1971, APB was replaced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). In contrast to the APB, the members of the FASB are full-time paid employees from various organizations. FASB issued lots of guidance that improves Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP) ( Schroeder & Clark & Cathey, 2013, p. 9).
b. Accounting standard setting is an integral part of the economic regulatory system in America and has economic consequences. The government has responsibility to maintain a stable and sound economy for national security. Also, the politicization of accounting standard setting strength the

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