By Cydney Posner

Don't know the difference between an FSP and EITF? Well, don't bother learning now. FASB has announced the launch of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

On July 1, 2009, the Codification will become the single official source of authoritative, nongovernmental U.S. GAAP, superseding existing FASB, AICPA, EITF and related literature. At that point, there will be only one level of authoritative GAAP, and other literature will be superseded and considered to be nonauthoritative. Of course, guidance issued by the SEC will continue to be authoritative, so that means we will continue to have FRRs and SABs to deal with. The Codification will be effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009, which means that preparers must begin to use the Codification for periods that begin on or about July 1, 2009. The Codification document will include, but separately display, portions of authoritative content issued by the SEC and selected SEC staff interpretations and administrative guidance relevant to matters within the basic financial statements. The Codification does not involve any changes to GAAP, but instead just introduces a new structure, reorganizing the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into approximately 90 accounting topics. There will be a cross-reference report that allows users to identify where current standards are located or otherwise used as source material. Basic view of the Codification Topics will be free, but "enhanced access" using a professional product cost money. Here is an FAQ from FASB on the Codification.

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