FARS workshops

I'll be doing FARS (Financial Accounting Resource System) workshops this week and next. Students do not need to sign-up in advance, they can just come to the room.

Here's the schedule:

(All workshops in the library). They will each last about 30 minutes, unless there are a lot of questions from students.

Monday, March 20, 5:40 p.m. Room 130 here in the library. Tuesday, March 21, 10:45 a.m. Room 135
Wednesday, March 22, 5 p.m. Room 130
Thursday, March 23, 12:50 p.m. Room 130
Friday, March 24, 6:15 p.m. Room 135
Friday, March 31, 6 p.m. Room 135

Also, FARS will be covered (briefly) in the Accounting Resources workshops Thursday, March 30, at 12:45 in Room 135. Students will need to sign up for this workshop.

Unlike past semesters, I have not received copies of the assignments. There is a FARS handout in the Reference Desk file drawers, along with the FARS CD disc.

The FARS handout covers the different ways that students may access this information.

Briefly, the FARS disc is the Financial Accounting Standards Board standards and, pronouncements,etc. that make up the "generally accepted accounting standards." The FARS disc is only updated once a year. Students may access the information using these discs; some have access to FARS Online through Wiley through their text books.

Of the library's databases, RIA Checkpoint's WG&L Financial Reporting & Management is (I think) the better database to use. It offers many hyperlinks, which reduces the number of searches students will need to do. CCH's Business & Finance, in Securities tab, in SEC's Accountants' Module, in Financial Accounting Standards, has the same information, but there are no hyperlinks. The FASB's free website, www.fasb.org, lacks the current text, which has the current information relating to the standards, but is updated at least once a week. (Some new standards have been issued since the FARS disc was made in June.)

There is a tutorial on how to search FARS online posted on the accounting department's blackboard site. There is a handout in the reference desk drawer. Students should read these and try to search on their own. In the past, some students have sought my help without reading these materials first.

The CCH Accounting Research Manager, new this school year, does not allow student access to FASB or EITF, but the interpretation and examples for GAAP can provide helpful information. This database is in Information Resources. We have a limited number of simultaneous users.

Please let me know if you have any questions. You are welcome to come to any of the workshops.