Tips for accounting assignment re Gift Cards

A number of accounting classes will be working on an assignment dealing with accounting for gift cards. I will be doing some short workshops to help the students as for many, this is their first time searching the FASB literature, trying to understand what they are saying; searching a database, and completing an assignment.

Some faculty have told me that they like it that the library can help students search for the information but can't tell them the answer. (If pressed to tell the "correct" answer, I tell them my grade in financial accounting and that puts an end to asking me for the answer. Also, as with much of accounting, there may be alternatives that are permitted. The alternatives may or may not have specific advantages or there may be a preferred method, but that's for the students to find out.


RIA Checkpoint is the database we have that allows you to search FASB documents. I'm revising a more detailed search guide from last year. (The FARS discs are not being used this year.) I'll post the longer guide when it is available.

Here are some tips:

Tips for the “Gift Card” assignment for Accounting students

This is the first time many students will be using the official accounting standards issued by The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Some things they need to consider: From the facts presented, what might be the significant of the details presented: Time periods? Relationship(s) of the parties? Whether there is any thing that is uncertain or remains to be performed? Whether this is one transaction or a series of transactions, Whether there is a projected income or loss? That the company is public?

The standards are difficult to understand. So, before searching in a database for the standards, students may want to do some background work, looking for explanations that might be helpful.

Several sources:
Listed in databases in Search & Find:
CCH Business Research – Most of the accounting sources are not available on this database but Search Tools offers a thesaurus that students can use to find synonyms to gift card. This may give clues for other terms to search in other databases.

CCH Accounting Research Manager—a keyword search for gift cards, or keyword searches for synonyms, will bring up some interpretative information and explanations, that will refer to FASB documents. (Unfortunately, FASB documents are not available in this database—a restriction of FASB to the academic community.)


Before searching the databases, students might want to look for articles about gift cards and accounting. (These keywords work in ABI Inform Global and Business Source Premier, and result in a short list of articles that can be helpful in explaining the issue(s) behind accounting for gift cards.) One could also use a popular search engine. (Don’t tell the students but there is uncertainty about this issue and as their assignment indicates, two ways that one can account for gift cards.)


RIA Checkpoint is the database that includes FASB and AICPA statements.
§ Change practice area from Federal to Accting, Audit & Corp Finance.
§ A basic search to get started is: gift card or gift certificate in the search box and limit the search to FASB




From here on, this is where the accounting students need to read and interpret and come to their own conclusions.

If students want to search specific parts of the FASB publications, after selecting FASB, they should click Table of Contents and keep drilling down until a list of the publications appear. The Current Text has general standards and industrial standards. The general standards, arranged by topic, may be helpful. The current text is not officially part of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) but it provides hyperlinks to the statements and other documents that are part of GAAP, as well as links to explanatory information.

The FASB website, http://www.fasb.org/, does not include the Current Text. It is not easy to search the site by keyword if one does not know the source document needed.


I hope that this is helpful.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks, Rita