FARS is available on Horn Library workstation 21.  Click on the FARS icon on the desktop.

Brief Description: FARS is useful for faculty and intermediate/advanced level accounting students who need to research authoritative accounting literature.

Access Restrictions: Students, Faculty, Staff, and Walk-In Alumni and Visitors may use.

Citing Articles
Help
Contents
Tool Bar Buttons
Views
Basic Steps
Types of Searches
Operators
Output
Scope

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (in Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Citations) style example:

GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, section 11 (Financial Accounting Standards Bd. 2001), available in FARS (Financial Accounting Research System), Original Pronouncements (Jan. 15, 2003).

For additional MLA examples, visit the MLA site.

1. Do not use the HELP button in the Tool Bar. It references FOLIO, the application software that was used to construct FARS.
2. For help using the FARS database, refer to the FARS Reference Guide, which is listed with the infobases on the opening screen. A casebook written by Wanda A. Wallace entitled Mastery of the Financial Accounting Research System (FARS) Through Cases HF 5679 .W29 2003 is available at Information Desk1.

The opening screen/main menu displays the top tool bar and seven main subdivisions (the FASB calls the first six infobases); they are:

[FASB-OP] Original Pronouncements contain all AICPA & FASB pronouncements in chronological order. Amended and superseded material (which is shaded) has been linked to revised pronouncements. Series titles include:

• Committee on Accounting Procedure Accounting Research Bulletins (ARB)
• Accounting Principles Board Opinions (APB)
• AICPA Accounting Interpretations (AIN)
• Accounting Principles Board Statements (APS)
• Accounting Terminology Bulletins (ATB)
• Financial Accounting Standards Board:
  • Statements of Financial Accounting Standards (FAS)
  • Interpretations (FIN)
  • Technical Bulletins (FTB)
  • Statements of Financial Accounting Concepts (CON)

[FASB-CT] Current Text contains:

• General Standards
• Industry Standards
• Superseded sections of the Current Text (which have a delayed start date before taking effect) (Appendix E)
• A title listing for AICPA Practice Bulletins, AICPA Audit and Accounting Guides, and AICPA Statements of Position

[EITF] EITF Abstracts contain:

• Introduction
• Emerging Issues Task Force abstracts (1984-present)
• List of Task Force members (Appendix A)
• Announcements of general & administrative matters (Appendix C)
• Discussions of other technical matters (Appendix D)
• EITF Topical Index
• EITF Table of Contents

[FASB-Q&A] Implementation Guides contain:

• Special reports and publications that aid in the implementation of selected FASB Statements (beginning with Statement 80)

[FASINDEX] Topical Index provides index access across the entire FARS database, furnishing links to appropriate paragraphs.

FARS Reference Guide provides information about the contents of each of the infobases, FASB contacts, system requirements and features (accessing the database via Table of Contents, Topical Index or User-defined queries and Predefined query templates), shading the text (indicates superseded material), FAQ and output options.

Search Command

Task

1. Click on infobase you wish to use.
2. Select the type of search you would like to do. (Start by clicking on Search in the Menu Bar for access to the greatest number of search options.)
3. Follow specific instructions given for the type of search you have chosen in the section entitled Types of Searches.
4. Navigate hits in documents by clicking on single or double arrows in tool bar and change views by clicking on tabs at the bottom of the screen.
5. Mark documents by positioning cursor in left-hand margin and pressing [Ctrl] + [t] for output (clear tags from Edit in Menu Bar) and print/download according to your choice.

Simple

Use this type of search when you know exactly what you're looking for, have a specific reference to the pronouncement and just want to read it online. After selecting an Infobase, click on the red diamond once to reveal the titles in a given series and a second time to reveal the full text.

Table of Contents

Use this type of search when you have a fairly good idea of what you want and need to focus on a particular segment of a document. After selecting an Infobase and clicking on the Contents tab (at bottom of screen), a list of documents will appear, allowing you to expand or contract an entry by clicking on the + or - sign. When you find the section you would like to read, double click on the title of the entry to reveal the full text.

Topical Index

Use this type of search when you would like to browse a list of accounting terms in order to retrieve all sections of pronouncements that have a bearing on your topic. Select the topical index infobase by clicking on the INDEX button. Click on letter that corresponds with your topic choice. An alphabetical list of topics with see references will appear on the left-hand side of the screen. On the right-hand side of the screen are three potential columns of clickable links to the actual portion of the document. (Reading from left to right, these three columns are for the Original Pronouncements, Current Text and EITF Abstracts.)

Other types of active links in the fulltext include:

• Raised footnote (popup): explains or clarifies
• Diamond: provides a link to the text of amended or superseded material

Query Templates (predefined searches)

Once you have opened an infobase, click on Search in the menu tool bar.  Select a query template by clicking on one of the following: 

• Search by issue date  (Enter single date or date range in date box, or double click on date displayed in date issued box and click OK.)
• Search only current documents  (Double click on selection in heading box to transfer it to document type box, type in search in query for box and click OK.)
• Search within a single document title (See search only current documents instructions above.)
• Search within a single document type (See search only current documents instructions above.)

Query

Use query icon (smaller binoculars) if you want to search using natural language.

Advanced Query

Use this type of search when you want to restrict your search to particular portions of a record (contents, field, group, headings, highlighter, level, note, partition, popup) and construct a custom search from predefined terms. After selecting an infobase, double click on Advanced Query icon (larger binoculars) in the tool bar. (Clicking on the left-hand bracket at bottom-left will activate field headings; enclose field heading in brackets before adding search word(s); this step is optional.) Type in a single word and the number of hits from the predefined word list will register on the gray portion of the screen. Clicking OK enables you to view the context in which your terms appear. 

For more complex searches, refer to the following table of operators.

Printing:

Downloading:

FARS is useful for faculty and intermediate/advanced level accounting students who need to research authoritative accounting literature.  FARS is divided into six infobases each resembling one of the following printed counterparts: Original Pronouncements, Current Text, EITF Abstracts, Implementation Guides, Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, Topical Index, and the FARS Reference Guide.  Updated quarterly, each subdivision may be searched separately or in combination.  In addition to a topical index, FARS includes AICPA and FASB pronouncements, general and industry standards, abstracts of issues discussed by the Emerging Issues Task Force, implementation guides and Q & As, and amended derivative statement FASB #133.  Search by table of contents, topical index references, predefined query templates or user-defined queries.

Updated January 31, 2008
By  Mary Gavett-Orsi