Accounting Regulatory Bodies Paper

In accounting there are several bodies that regulate company finances. Accounting is tremendously important because it is the language of business, and it is at the root of making informed business decisions. Without accounting, managers would not know which products were successful, which business decisions were the right ones, and whether the company was earning money. It would not know how much to pay in taxes, whether to lease or buy an asset, or whether to merge with another company. In short, accounting doesn't just count the beans, it measures a company's success at meeting its goals and it helps investors understand how efficiently their economic resources are being used. This is why companies must be proficient in accounting in order to make good decisions. The Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the IRS, and other regulatory bodies set accounting standards and requirements for accounting frequency and presentation.

One regulatory body is the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board: The organizations effected by this body is the government and the government needs to meet the accounting standards and financial reporting that play an important part in ensuring the accountability of the government. The government must follow the federal accounting standards. The standards improve the assessment of government's accountability and the effectiveness of the economic, political, and social consequences of the allocation and various uses of federal resources.

Another body is the Financial Accounting Standards Board: Their website states: "The mission of the Financial Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information." (http://www.fasb.org/). An organization complies with the standards of this body by following the standards of the FASB.

In addition there is also a Government Accounting Standards Board. Their website states: The mission of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports" (http://www.gasb.org/). All organizations that are affected by this should follow the standards of GASB. There is also a Securities and Exchange Commission. Their website states "The mission of the U.S.