Accounting for Fixed Assets
Chapter One
What Is Accounting
for Fixed Assets?
INTRODUCTION
Most accounting professionals believe that all there is to be learned
about asset accounting occurred in the introductory course on principles
of accounting. Therefore, although this subject can become quite
complex, it has not been explored in the accounting literature.
In 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
called for the rewriting of the uniform system of accounts for telephone
companies, public utilities had not been following generally accepted
accounting principles (GAAP) as outlined by the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) and its predecessors, but instead used procedures
that had been outlined in 1934 by the FCC. The team responsible
for making recommendations on the rewriting of the system of accounts
established a basic policy that what was to be recommended
would comply with current GAAP.
The subcommittee responsible for reviewing and recommending
procedures for property, plant, and equipment was frustrated by the
lack of definitive information on accounting for assets. The primary
sources are very limited. The Accounting Principles Boa ... read full excerpt from Accounting for Fixed Assets ebook
