List of US GAAP Standards by ASC Codification Topic

US GAAP is organized in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC), and the full list of US GAAP standards by ASC topic sits inside nine numbered series that run from 100 (General Principles) through 900 (Industry). Each series holds individual topics, identified by a three-digit number, that govern a defined area of financial reporting. Below is the list, series by series, with the topics most preparers actually touch.

How ASC Topic Numbers Work

Every authoritative GAAP rule for nongovernmental entities lives in the codification, which launched in 2009 and consolidated decades of separate pronouncements into a single searchable system.1FASB. FASB Accounting Standards Codification The codification uses a four-part citation. A reference like ASC 842-20-50-1 points to the topic (842, Leases), subtopic (20), section (50, Disclosure), and paragraph (1). Topics are grouped by the first digit of their number, and that first digit places the topic in one of the nine series.

Because the FASB amends the codification through Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) on a rolling basis, individual paragraphs sometimes carry “Pending Content” boxes showing how the text will read once a newly issued standard takes effect.2FASB. About the Codification The list of active topics currently runs to roughly 90.

ASC 100 Series: General Principles

The 100 series establishes foundational concepts that cut across every other topic. It is the smallest of the nine series and functions as an overarching layer rather than a place preparers spend day-to-day time.

ASC 200 Series: Presentation

The 200-series topics govern how financial statements are structured and displayed.

  • ASC 205, Presentation of Financial Statements, sets out what a complete set of statements includes and when to apply liquidation-basis reporting.
  • ASC 220, Comprehensive Income, requires reporting of all changes in equity that do not come from transactions with owners, such as unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities and foreign currency translation adjustments.3Financial Accounting Standards Board. Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) – Presentation of Comprehensive Income
  • ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, applies to public companies and specifies how to calculate and present both basic and diluted EPS. Basic EPS divides income available to common shareholders by weighted-average shares outstanding; diluted EPS adjusts that figure for the potential effect of stock options, convertible debt, and similar instruments.

ASC 300 Series: Assets

The 300 series covers how companies recognize, measure, and report the resources they control. Several of the most heavily used standards in all of GAAP sit here.

  • ASC 310, Receivables, addresses the valuation of trade receivables and the related allowance for credit losses.
  • ASC 326, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses, replaced the older “incurred loss” model with the current expected credit losses (CECL) approach. Under CECL, a company estimates the full amount of expected losses over the life of a financial asset at the time it records the asset. The standard applies to loans, receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities, and off-balance-sheet credit exposures.4FDIC. Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL)
  • ASC 330, Inventory, addresses acceptable cost-flow assumptions including FIFO, LIFO, and weighted-average cost. For companies not using LIFO or the retail method, inventory must be carried at the lower of cost or net realizable value.5Financial Accounting Standards Board. Inventory (Topic 330) – Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory
  • ASC 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, governs the accounting for acquired intangible assets and requires periodic impairment testing for goodwill.
  • ASC 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment, covers depreciation methods, impairment testing for long-lived assets, and the accounting for disposals.

ASC 400 Series: Liabilities

The 400 series addresses obligations to outside parties.

  • ASC 450, Contingencies, requires a company to record a loss when both conditions are met: the loss is probable, and the amount is reasonably estimable. If a loss is only reasonably possible, the company discloses the contingency in the footnotes without booking a charge to income.
  • ASC 470, Debt, covers a wide range of borrowing arrangements, including convertible instruments, debt issuance costs, and modifications or exchanges of existing debt. When restructured terms differ substantially from the original, the borrower treats the transaction as an extinguishment of the old debt and recognizes the new instrument at fair value.
  • ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, establishes the tests for classifying instruments such as mandatorily redeemable preferred stock and written put options on a company’s own shares, which can look like equity but function like debt.

ASC 500 Series: Equity

The 500 series is narrow.

  • ASC 505, Equity, covers capital stock transactions, treasury stock, and dividends. A company that repurchases its own shares without retiring them may account for the treasury stock using a cost method or a method that mirrors the accounting for retired stock. Dividends, stock splits, and issuances of new share classes all fall under ASC 505.

ASC 600 Series: Revenue

The 600 series is dominated by a single topic that virtually every company applies.

  • ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, replaced a patchwork of older, industry-specific rules with one unified five-step model: identify the contract with a customer; identify the distinct performance obligations; determine the transaction price; allocate the transaction price across the performance obligations; and recognize revenue when, or as, each performance obligation is satisfied. The core principle is that a company records revenue in the amount it expects to collect in exchange for transferring goods or services to a customer.

ASC 700 Series: Expenses

The 700 series covers the other side of the income statement.

  • ASC 718, Compensation—Stock Compensation, requires measurement of the fair value of equity-based awards at the grant date, with that value recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period.
  • ASC 720, Other Expenses, addresses costs such as advertising and start-up expenditures.
  • ASC 730, Research and Development, requires R&D costs to be expensed as incurred. The main exception involves certain software development costs, which may be capitalized after a product reaches technological feasibility.6Internal Revenue Service. FAQs – IRC 41 QREs and ASC 730 LBI Directive
  • ASC 740, Income Taxes, uses a balance-sheet approach: the book value of each asset and liability on the financial statements is compared to its corresponding tax basis, and the differences generate deferred tax assets or deferred tax liabilities.

ASC 800 Series: Broad Transactions

The 800 series covers complex events that touch multiple areas of the financial statements at once.

  • ASC 805, Business Combinations, requires every merger or acquisition to be accounted for using the acquisition method. The acquirer identifies the purchase date, measures the fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities it takes on, and records any excess purchase price as goodwill.
  • ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, sets strict criteria for when a derivative qualifies for hedge accounting. When those criteria are met, gains and losses on the hedging instrument can offset the hedged risk in the same reporting period. When they are not met, the derivative sits on the balance sheet at fair value, and every change in that value hits earnings immediately.
  • ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, defines fair value and establishes the three-level hierarchy used whenever another standard requires a fair-value measurement. Level 1 uses quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 uses observable inputs other than Level 1 quotes, such as quoted prices for similar assets or interest rates derived from market data. Level 3 uses unobservable inputs based on a company’s own assumptions, typically for illiquid or unique assets. The further down the hierarchy a measurement falls, the more disclosure is required.
  • ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters, provides the rules for translating the financial statements of foreign subsidiaries into the parent company’s reporting currency, including how translation gains and losses flow through comprehensive income.
  • ASC 842, Leases, requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability on the balance sheet for virtually all leases longer than twelve months. Before ASC 842, operating leases stayed off the balance sheet entirely. The standard distinguishes between finance leases, which front-load expense recognition, and operating leases, which recognize expense on a straight-line basis; both types now appear as assets and liabilities.

ASC 900 Series: Industry

The 900 series contains specialized guidance for industries where the general standards do not adequately address unique transactions. When an industry-specific topic exists, it takes precedence over the general standards for the transactions it covers. A software company capitalizing development costs, for example, follows ASC 985 rather than the general R&D expensing rules in ASC 730 once technological feasibility is established.

Major topics in the 900 series include:

  • ASC 905, Agriculture
  • ASC 908, Airlines
  • ASC 910, Contractors—Construction
  • ASC 932, Extractive Activities—Oil and Gas
  • ASC 940 through 950, Financial Services (brokers and dealers, banks and lenders, insurance companies, investment companies, mortgage banking, and title plants)
  • ASC 954, Health Care Entities
  • ASC 958, Not-for-Profit Entities
  • ASC 960 through 965, Plan Accounting (defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution plans, and health and welfare benefit plans)
  • ASC 970 through 978, Real Estate (general, common interest associations, REITs, retail land, and time-sharing)
  • ASC 980, Regulated Operations
  • ASC 985, Software

Private Company Alternatives Within the Same List

The list of topics is the same for public and private companies, but the FASB’s Private Company Council (PCC) has developed accounting alternatives that only nonpublic entities can elect within specific topics. The most widely adopted alternative sits inside ASC 350: instead of testing goodwill for impairment every year, a private company can elect to amortize goodwill on a straight-line basis over ten years, or a shorter period if it can demonstrate a more appropriate useful life. Under this alternative, impairment testing is only required when a triggering event suggests the entity’s fair value may have dropped below its carrying amount.7Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Accounting Alternative for Evaluating Triggering Events (ASU 2021-03) – Amendments to Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350)

Other PCC alternatives sit within topics covering hedge accounting for certain interest rate swaps and the measurement of credit losses on receivables. Electing a PCC alternative does not take a company outside of GAAP; the alternatives are codified within the ASC and are fully compliant.

How the List Changes

The list above reflects the codification as amended by ASUs issued to date. When the FASB wants to change existing rules or introduce new ones, it issues an ASU that spells out which sections of the codification are changing, why the change was necessary, when the new rules take effect, and how companies should transition.8Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Accounting Standards Updates Issued The FASB also uses the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) to tackle narrower implementation problems, with EITF recommendations folded into the codification through the same ASU process.9Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). About the EITF The SEC holds ultimate statutory authority over financial reporting for public companies and can create or override accounting standards when it deems necessary for investor protection, though it rarely exercises that power in practice.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7218 – Accounting Standards

For the current, authoritative text of any topic in this list, the codification itself is the source. The topic numbers stay stable; the paragraphs inside them do not.