Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Accounting information

FASB Codification for accounting students now includes access to GASB

The FASB Codification of Accounting Standards, of  which  only accounting students and faculty may access the Academic Version via passwords, now includes access to the GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board), which issues the accounting standards that governmental units follow.  Baruch community members also have access to the FASB and GASB standards through CCH Accounting Research Manager.

An accounting professor told me that the most recently issued GASB Statement, Statement No. 69, Government Combinations and Disposals of Government Operations, issued in January, 2013, is only available on CCH Accounting Research Manager.  I checked and the version of GASB on the other database is current as of June 30, 2012.   So, if you have an questions about Statement No. 69, the database to use is CCH Accounting Research Manager.

 

Accounting assignment re: New Century Financial Corporation

An accounting class is assigned the Harvard Business School case re New Century Financial Corporation.

As we know, this must be purchased from The Harvard Business School cases, and the link is: http://hbr.org/product/new-century-financial-corporation/an/109034-PDF-ENG?Ntt=%2520new%2520century%2520financial.  (Some students mistakenly think the library has the case.)

Students are also asked to read the final report by Missal.  This 294-page report  can be found at http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/ca/newcentury01_0327.pdf.

If students ask what other resources have information about this company’s failure, ABI Inform Global, Business Source Complete, Lexis-Nexis, Factiva, and SSRN can be recommended for news stories as well as coverage in professional and academic publications.  It received a great deal of coverage.

If a student needs more assistance, he/she can contact me for a research consultation.  However, I think the above information should be enough for the students.  They need not contact me directly to learn that the Harvard Business School case needs to be purchased.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

LibGuide on CPA exam review resources updated

I have updated the LibGuide on CPA exam review resources to show 2012 resources.  The 4-volume sets from Bisk and Wiley are available in Reserves.  Books 24×7 also has some resources, including access to older material. 

Because there were many changes made to the exam in 2011 the older volumes of review books, found in reference and in the stacks, have been removed from the collection. Please encourage students to use the most recent materials.  The LibGuide has other information about the exam.

Baruch’s  accountancy department is sponsoring a session on the CPA exam Feb. 4th.  They also offer assistance throughout the year in explaining what needs to be done to register for the exam and prepare for it.

Report re bankruptcy that might be requested

Several auditing students have asked for help in finding information aboutNew Century Financial Corporation, a subprime lender that filed for bankruptcy in 2007.

There has also been complaints for fraud brought by the SEC (searchable on the SEC site and also CCH Accounting Research Manager) and also some class action securities litigation, found on the Stanford University securities class action website.

A report by  bankruptcy examiner Missal has been requested.  Although these reports are not usually available full-text, the document was unsealed by the Delaware bankruptcy court and posted on the website of the law firm Missal is associated with.  It runs over 500 pages. An explanation of the report is available.

AAA accounting journals database discontinued

Access to the American Accounting Association (AAA) database of accounting journals has been discontinued through the Newman Library databases.  Mike Waldman removed it from the database list today.

Why was this change made?  Originally, the database was obtained because the AAA started an embargo of one year of their journals on database providers.

However, last year I noticed that this embargo had ended. Most of the journals, including the current issues,  are available on other subscription databases.  The main journals are Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons, and Issues in Accounting Education, all of which are available in a number of our databases.  Many accountancy faculty are AAA members and can access the journals via personal log-ins.  So, without the embargo, and the availability of the journals elsewhere, it seemed like a means to save some funds for other needed purposes.

Accounting assignment on “push down accounting”

I helped a student in Acc 4100 who is part of a team doing research and a presentation on “push down accounting.”  They are to include references to companies using push down accounting.  Here are some possible sources:

Books 24×7 -search FinancePro collection for phrase “push down accounting”.  There are some books with chapters explaining this phrase.

ABI Inform and Business Source Premier can be searched for articles in accounting journals.  These can help explain push down accounting, which results in a new basis (from what I read quickly–I really didn’t study it).

CCH Accounting Research Manager–offers the FASB Codification and interpretations and explanations.  The FASB Codification relating to push down accounting is 805-50-15-7 through 15-9.   Among the results I looked at were some AICPA issues papers including pushdown accounting in practice with examples from the 1970s and 1980s mentioned.

For current/recent examples, I suggested to the student to try Factiva as we found some earnings releases (from Business Wire and other wire services) and also earnings conference calls in which a specific company’s  officers explained  how push down accounting affected their earnings.

Doing phrase searches for push down accounting in SEC filings on Mergent and Edgar Online I-Metrix also provided some recent examples.

The student was pleased with these suggestions.  I neglected to ask if they were to consider non-US companies.  I hope these suggestions are helpful in case the question comes up again.

ACC 3202 assignment information

Several students in Prof. Lapoolsa’s ACC 3202 class have inquired about the Warren case assignment at the reference desk and sought help.  However, they didn’t have the assignment with them. One said it involves journal entries. I know what journal entries are, but having received a C- in financial accounting, I offer no help with journal entries other than to direct students to a number of books that help with journal entries in our collection.  (Books 24×7 and accounting textbooks offer suggestions.)  As there is nothing on reserve for the assignment, I contacted the professor who said it is for sale in the bookstore, and suggested any other inquiries  from students be addressed to him by email.