What is GAAP?

GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; these are the standard and commonly accepted ways of recording and reporting accounting. GAAP is the acronym for generally accepted accounting principles. That means the basic accounting principles and guidelines such as the cost principle, matching principle, full disclosure, etc., the detailed standards and other rules issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and its predecessor the Accounting Principles Board, and generally accepted industry practices.
GAAP must be adhered to when a company distributes its financial statements outside of the company. If a corporation's stock is publicly traded, the financial statements must also adhere to rules established by the overseeing governmental agency. This includes having its financial statements audited by an independent accounting firm.
Accountants use generally accepted accounting principles to guide them in recording and reporting financial information. GAAP comprises a broad set of principles that have been developed by the accounting profession.
In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a preliminary "roadmap" that may lead the United States to abandon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the and to join more than 100 countries around the world instead in using the London-based International Financial Reporting Standard. The SEC expressed their aim to fully adopt International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S. by 2014. With the convergence of the U.S. GAAP and the international IFRS accounting systems, as the highest authority over International Financial Reporting Standards, the International Accounting Standards Board is becoming more important in the United States.

By Barry Norman, Investors Trading Academy