The following list of AICPA Issues Papers have been compiled using the holdings of the University of Mississippi Libraries and the 2008 Technical Practice Aids section entitled "Issues papers of the Accounting Standards Division." Issues Papers were originally intended to be an evenhanded discussion of topics that needed to be "addressed or clarified by the Financial Accounting Standards Board." [1] Issues Papers were the vehicle the AICPA's Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) used to present emerging practice problems to the FASB and accounting practitioners. Issues Papers generally followed a standard format: (1) background, (2) analysis of current practice, (3) review of the literature, (4) statement of issues needing resolution, and (5) advisory conclusions.[2]
While Issues Papers were never enforceable standards, they became recognized (prior to the creation of the FASB Codification in 2009) as the fifth or lowest level in the GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (United States) hierarchy of standards [3] Issues Papers often offered guidance in areas too narrow for FASB's attention or when guidance was required in a more timely fashion than permitted by the formulation and issuance of a FASB statement.[4] Issues Papers then gained a level of authority as practitioners followed their guidance and different agencies accepted their recommendations. The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared the 1984 Issues Paper, "Identification and Discussion of Certain financial Accounting and Reporting Issues Concerning LIFO Inventories," as authoritative in 1985. [5] The method of handling stock transaction in the 1980 Issues Paper, Accounting in Consolidation for Issuances of a Subsidiary Stock, was also accepted in 1983 by the SEC as acceptable practice.[6] The 1986 Issues Paper, Accounting for Options, provided the "first definitive professional opinion on how to account for options. [7]
| Issue Date | Official title | Status |
|---|
| 1978 December 12 | Accounting for Termination Indemnities full-text | Superseded by FASB Statement 88 |
| 1978 December 15 | Accounting for Changes in Estimates full-text | |
| 1978 December 20 | Accounting for Involuntary Conversions full-text | Superseded by FASB Interpretation 30 |
| 1978 December 20 | Uncertainties full-text | |
| 1978 December 27 | Reporting finance subsidiaries in consolidated financial statements full-text | |
| 1979 January 11 | Accounting for Time Paid but Not Worked full-text | Superseded by FASB Statement 43 |
| 1979 January 15 | Meaning of "In Substance a Repossession or Foreclosure" and Accounting for Partial Refinancing of Troubled Real Estate Loans Under FASB Statement No. 15 full-text | Superseded by AICPA Practice Bulletin No. 7 |
| 1979 February 26 | Personal Financial Statements full-text | Superseded by AICPA Personal Financial Statements Guide |
| 1979 February 26 | Project Financing Arrangements full-text | Superseded by FASB Statement No. 47 |
| 1979 April 27 | Real Estate ADC Costs | Superseded by FASB Statement No. 66 |
| 1979 June 21 | Accounting for Allowances for Losses on Certain Real Estate and Loans and Receivables Collateralized by Real Estate full-text | |
| 1979 July 17 | Joint Venture Accounting full-text | |
| 1979 August 7 | Accounting for Repurchase, Reverse Repurchase, Dollar Repurchase, and Dollar Reverse Repurchase Agreements for Savings and Loans full-text | incorporated into Audits of Savings Institutions |
| 1979 October 8 | Accounting by Investors for Distributions Received in Excess of Their Investment in a Joint Venture full-text | |
| 1979 October 15 | Accounting for bulk purchases of mortgages between mortgage bankers full-text | |
| 1979 October 16 | Accounting for Grants Received from Governments full-text | superseded by IASC International Accounting Standard No. 20 |
| 1979 October 30 | "Push Down" Accounting full-text | |
| 1980 January 8 | Mortgage Guaranty Insurance full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 60 |
| 1980 February 5 | Accounting for Vested Pension Benefits Existing or Arising when a Plant is Closed or a Business Segment is Discontinued full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 87 |
| 1980 March 20 | Transfers of Receivables with Recourse full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 77 |
| 1980 June 20 | Accounting by Lease Brokers full-text | superseded by FASB Technical Bulletin 86-2 |
| 1980 June 30 | Accounting in Consolidation for Issuances of a Subsidiary Stock full-text | |
| 1980 July 15 | Accounting for the Inability to Fully Recover the Carrying Amounts of Long Lived Assets full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 121 |
| 1980 August 13 | Intangibles in the Motor Carrier Industry full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 44 |
| 1980 December 10 | Related Party Transactions | superseded by FASB Statement No. 57 |
| 1980 December 16 | Accounting for Forward Placement and Standby Commitments and Interest Rate Futures Contracts full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 80 |
| 1981 March 17 | Accounting and reporting by health and welfare benefit plans full-text | |
| 1981 March 17 | Accounting and reporting by defined contribution plans full-text | |
| 1981 March 17 | Certain Issues That Affect Accounting for Minority Interest in Consolidated financial Statements [https://archive.is/20121210104714/http://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/u?/aicpa,10405 full-text] | |
| 1981 April 10 | Sales of Timesharing Interests in Real Estate full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 67 |
| 1981 June 25 | Accounting for Installment Lending Activities of Finance Companies full-text | incorporated in Audits of Finance Companies |
| 1981 July 13 | Accounting by Agricultural Producers and Agricultural Cooperatives full-text | superseded by SOP 85-3 |
| 1981 July 16 | Accounting for Joint Costs of Multipurpose Informational Materials and Activities of Nonprofit Organizations full-text | superseded by SOP 87-2 |
| 1981 August 3 | Accounting for Bulk Purchases of Mortgages full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 65 |
| 1981 November 16 | Depreciation of Income Producing Real Estate full-text | |
| 1982 August 13 | Accounting for Medical Malpractice Loss Contingencies (Asserted and Unasserted Claims) and Related Issues of Health Care Providers | superseded by SOP 87-1 |
| 1982 October 14 | Acceptability of "Simplified LIFO" for Financial Reporting Purposes full-text | |
| 1982 November 1 | Financial Reporting by Health Care Entities of the Proceeds of Tax Exempt Bonds and Funds Limited as to Use | incorporated in Audits of Providers of Health Care Services |
| 1982 November 4 | Accounting for Employee Capital Accumulation Plans full-text | |
| 1983 September 20 | Accounting for Nonrefundable Fees of Originating or Acquiring Loans and Acquisition Costs of Loan and Insurance Activities full-text | superseded by FASB Statement No. 91 |
| 1984 February 17 | Accounting for costs of Software for Sale or Lease | superseded by FASB Statement No. 86 |
| 1984 March 26 | Computation of Premium Deficiencies in Insurance Enterprises full-text | |
| 1984 July 12 | Accounting for Income Taxes of Stock Life Insurance Companies full-text | superseded by FASB Technical Bulletin No. 84-3 |
| 1984 October 15 | Application of concepts in FASB statement of financial accounting standards no. 71 to emerging issues in the public utility industry full-text | |
| 1984 October 31 | Accounting for Key Person Life Insurance full-text | superseded by FASB Technical Bulletin No. 85-4 |
| 1984 November 5 | Accounting by Stock Life Insurance Companies for Annuities, Universal Life, and related Products and Accounting for Nonguaranteed-Premium Products full-text | |
| 1984 November 30 | Identification and Discussion of Certain financial Accounting and Reporting Issues Concerning LIFO Inventories full-text | |
| 1985 January 16 | Accounting for Loss Portfolio Transfers-Letter | |
| 1985 June 28 | Accounting by Health and Maintenance Organizations and Associated Entitiesfull-text | Superseded by SOP 89-5 |
| 1985 December 11 | Accounting for: no load mutual fund distribution fees full-text | |
| 1986 February 14 | Accounting for Estimated Credit Losses on Loan Portfolios full-text | incorporated in Audits of finance Companies |
| 1986 March 6 | Accounting for Options full-text | |
| 1987 April 21 | Software Revenue Recognition full-text | superseded by SOP 91-1 |
| 1987 September 9 | Use of Discounting in Financial Reporting for Monetary Items with Uncertain Terms Other than Those Covered by Existing Authoritative Literature full-text | |
| 1988 October 28 | Quasi Reorganizations full-text | |
1. ^American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. AICPA Technical Practice Aids as of June 1, 2008. (New York: The Institute, 2008). Pp. 28,00-28,004.
2. ^Beresford, Dennis R. "Emerging Problems: How the Profession is Coping." Journal of Accountancy, Vol. 151,Issue 2 (Feb. 1981), pp.57-60.
3. ^Hardin, Stuart. "Significant Changes to the GAAP Hierarchy," Outlook, Vol. 60 Issue 1 (Spring 1992), p. 40.
4. ^Beresford, Dennis R. "Emerging Problems: How the Profession is Coping." Journal of Accountancy, Vol. 151 (Feb. 1981), pp.57-60.
5. ^"SEC Staff says AICPA Issues Paper on Lifo Inventories Has Authority." Journal of Accountancy, Vol. 159, Issue 5 (May 1985), p.12
6. ^Rue, Joseph C. and Ara Volken. "Accounting for Subsidiary Stock Transactions."National Public Accountant, Vol. 39,Issue 7 (July 1994), pp. 32-34, 46.
7. ^Rude, Charles D. "Guidelines on Accounting for Options." Practical Accountant, Vol. 25, Issue 2 (February 1992), pp. 23-27