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Milne Library SUNY Geneseo Subject Guides


Accounting and Auditing: Handbooks and Dictionaries

Research Tips

Handbooks and Textbooks are often the best places to start looking for information on unfamiliar topics. Their mission is to define, explain and provide examples for students and practitioners. The Accountants' Handbook. Vol.1: Financial Accounting and General Topics and Vol.2.: Special Industries and Special Topics are both ebooks available through Milne Library. You must be careful about the date of publication.

Many accounting issues are in flux and may be under consideration by the accounting standard setters such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

RIA Checkpoint contains federal, state, and some international tax materials & full-text laws and regulations, as well as some important secondary sources:

  • Federal Tax Coordinator 2d
  • United States Tax Reporter
  • RIA Federal Tax Handbook  
  • Cummings' Corporate Tax Insights
  • Full-Text Treatises
  • Journal of Corporate Taxation continued by Corporate Taxation (1991-)
  • Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives (1991 -)
  • Journal of Taxation(1991 -)
  • Taxation for Accountants continued by  Practical Tax Strategies (1991 -)

Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios.  Presents median and upper and lower quartile values of financial ratios by industry.  Call number: HF5681.R25 I525

RMA Annual Statement Studies.  Composite financial data arranged by industry.  Financial statements on each industry are shown in common size form and are accompanied by widely used ratios.  Call number:  HF5681.B2 R6 , and these are accessible electronically through the database D&B Hoovers.

Use the following databases to search for articles in journals, magazines and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal. These play an important role in informing professionals and the public about current issues and controversies.