A grantor trust is a trust in which the settlor retains control over the trust property or its income to such an extent that the settlor is taxed on the trust's income. The use of grantor trust arrangements has become an important estate planning tool. Owners of grantor trusts may be shareholders of S corporations. A number of desirable and sophisticated estate planning arrangements involve grantor trust status as the starting point. These include grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), grantor retained unitrusts (GRUTs), personal residence trusts (PRTs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs) and intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs). The Grantor Trust Answer Book will address the following:

• The grantor trust rules can be found in Code Sections 671through 678. Each of these Sections describes a particular set of rules and circumstances that will cause a trust to be treated as a grantor trust. Each of these Code Sections is discussed in a separate Chapter addressing its rules and requirements.
• Some of the interests retained by a grantor that make a trust a grantor trust also cause inclusion of the trust property in the grantor’s estate. Other interests do not. These distinctions are discussed throughout the publication.
• Separate chapters address the estate planning uses of all types of grantor trusts (GRATs and GRUTs, PRTs and QPRTs, IDGTs).
• Grantor trust issues are involved in the design of certain charitable trusts, notably charitable lead trusts and these are discussed in detail.
• Coverage of foreign grantor trusts which are increasingly a topic of planning interest and government concern is included as well.
• The fact that grantor trusts are subject to special income tax filing and reporting rules is discussed.
• The role grantor trusts may have in planning for life insurance ownership, like kind exchanges and involuntary conversions is also among the issues addressed.

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Author: Eric S. Berman, CPA

Demonstrates in a detailed manner how a governmental entity can implement the complex standards established by GASB-34 and beyond through a worksheet approach. (A companion publication, Governmental GAAP Guide, discusses financial accounting and reporting standards necessary to prepare the basic external financial statements of a governmental entity.) The emphasis of Governmental GAAP Practice Manual is on the process of preparing financial statements.

Chapter 1 of the Governmental GAAP Practice Manual provides a detailed analysis of the interrelationship between the modified accrual basis of accounting and the accrual basis of accounting. Included is a comprehensive checklist of transactions and events that typically require a worksheet entry. Starting in Chapter 2 is a comprehensive illustration that continues through the remaining chapters of the book. For governmental funds, a variety of transactions are illustrated and journalized in Chapters 2 through 6, which result in a year-end trial balance for each individual fund based on the modified accrual basis of accounting. In Chapter 14, these trial balances are used as the basis for developing the information needed to prepare the fund financial statements. Chapter 16 illustrates the worksheet methodology for converting the information to the accrual basis.

A similar approach is used for proprietary funds and fiduciary funds.

In Chapter 16 the basic financial statements (including the fund financial statements and government-wide statements) are prepared based on the information developed in Chapter 13 and Chapter 14. Chapter 17 provides a discussion of note disclosure concepts and a listing of the required note disclosures applicable to state and local government financial statements. Chapter 18 discusses and develops information related to management's discussion and analysis and other required supplementary information. Chapter 19 illustrates combining financial statements that are presented as part of supplementary information included in a governmental entity's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Chapter 20 provides the preparers of financial statements with an in-depth review of the statistical section of the CAFR.

Governmental Funds

• The General Fund
• Special Revenue Funds
• Capital Project Funds
• Debt Service Funds
• Permanent Funds

• Enterprise Funds
• Internal Service Funds

• Pension (and Other Employee Benefits) Trust Funds
• Private-Purpose Trust Funds
• Investment Trust Funds and Individual Investment Accounts
• Agency Funds

• Developing Information for Fund Financial Statements
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Full Article

Demonstrates in a detailed manner how a governmental entity can implement the complex standards established by GASB-34 and beyond through a worksheet approach. (A companion publication, Governmental GAAP Guide, discusses financial accounting and reporting standards necessary to prepare the basic external financial statements of a governmental entity.) The emphasis of Governmental GAAP Practice Manual is on the process of preparing financial statements.

Chapter 1 provides a detailed analysis of the interrelationship between the modified accrual basis of accounting and the accrual basis of accounting. Included is a comprehensive checklist of transactions and events that typically require a worksheet entry. Starting in Chapter 2 is a comprehensive illustration that continues through the remaining chapters of the book. For governmental funds, a variety of transactions are illustrated and journalized in Chapters 2 through 6, which result in a year-end trial balance for each individual fund based on the modified accrual basis of accounting. In Chapter 14, these trial balances are used as the basis for developing the information needed to prepare the fund financial statements. Chapter 16 illustrates the worksheet methodology for converting the information to the accrual basis.

A similar approach is used for proprietary funds and fiduciary funds.

Chapter 17 uses the information developed in previous chapters to present management's discussion and analysis, notes, and other required supplementary information mandated by the GASB standards.

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Eric S. Berman, CPA

Analyzes all of the accounting principles for financial reporting by state and local governments. GASB Statements, GASB Interpretations, GASB Technical Bulletins as well as releases of the National Council on Governmental Accounting (NCGA) that remain in effect as of the date of publication, including Statements and NCGA Interpretations are restated in plain English and supported by timesaving examples and illustrations. Certain AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide concepts are also discussed. In one comprehensive volume, this impressive guide explains completely the financial accounting and reporting standards that are necessary in preparing the basic external financial statements of a governmental entity.

I. Basic Governmental Accounting Concepts and Standards

1 Foundation and Overview of Governmental Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
2 Budgetary Accounting and Reporting
3 Basis of Accounting and Measurement Focus
4 Governmental Reporting Entity
5 Terminology and Classification

6 Governmental Funds
7 Proprietary Funds
8 Fiduciary Funds

9 Deposits, Investments, and Derivative Instruments
10 Capital Assets
11 Other Assets
12 Long-Term Debt
13 Pension, Postemployment, and Other Employee Benefit Liabilities
14 Leases and Service Concession Arrangements
15 Risk Management, Claims, and Judgments
16 Other Liabilities
17 Revenues: Nonexchange and Exchange Transactions
18 Expenses/Expenditures: Nonexchange and Exchange Transactions
19 Special Assessments

20 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

21 Public Colleges and Universities
22 Pension and Other Postemployment Benefit Plans
23 Public Entity Risk Pools

Author: Eric S. Berman, CPA

Analyzes all of the accounting principles for financial reporting by state and local governments.

• GASB Statements,
• GASB Interpretations,
• GASB Technical Bulletins,
• NCGA Statements and Interpretations
• Pertinent AICPA Statements of Position and Auditing and Accounting Guides.

This material is restated in plain English and supported by timesaving examples and illustrations. In one comprehensive volume, this guide explains the financial accounting and reporting standards that are necessary in preparing the basic external financial statements of a governmental entity.

To facilitate research, major topics in the text are cross-referenced to the pertinent paragraphs of the original pronouncements. Throughout the text "Observations" clarify specific accounting principles.

I. Basic Governmental Accounting Concepts and Standards

1. Foundation and Overview of Governmental Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
2. Budgetary Accounting and Reporting
3. Basis of Accounting and Measurement Focus
4. Governmental Reporting Entity
5. Terminology and Classification

II. Fund Accounting

6. Governmental Funds
7. Proprietary Funds
8. Fiduciary Funds

III. Specific Accounting and Reporting Issues

9. Deposits, Investments, and Derivative Instruments
10. Capital Assets
11. Other Assets
12. Long-Term Debt
13. Pension, Postemployment, and Other Employee Benefit Liabilities
14. Leases and Service Concession Arrangements
15. Risk Management, Claims, and Judgments
16. Other Liabilities
17. Revenues: Nonexchange and Exchange Transactions
18. Expenses/Expenditures: Nonexchange and Exchange Transactions
19. Special Assessments

IV. Financial Reporting by General-Purpose Governments

20. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

V.Stand-Alone Financial Reporting by Special-Purpose Governments

21. Public Colleges and Universities
22. Pension and Other Postemployment Benefit Plans
23. Public Entity Risk Pools

Accounting Resources on the Web
Cross-Reference
Index

920 pages

Related Product

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Analyzes all of the accounting principles for financial reporting by state and local governments. GASB Statements, GASB Interpretations, GASB Technical Bulletins, NCGA Statements, and NCGA Interpretations as well as pertinent AICPA Statements of Position and Auditing and Accounting Guides are restated in plain English and supported by timesaving examples and illustrations. In one comprehensive volume, this guide explains completely the financial accounting and reporting standards that are necessary in preparing the basic external financial statements of a governmental entity.

A companion publication, Governmental GAAP Practice Manual, illustrates how governmental financial statements are prepared based on the standards established by GASB-34 and beyond.

I. Basic Governmental Accounting Concepts and Standards

1. Foundation and Overview of Governmental Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
2. Budgetary Accounting and Reporting
3. Basis of Accounting and Measurement Focus
4. Governmental Reporting Entity
5. Terminology and Classification

      6.     Governmental Funds
      7.     Proprietary Funds
      8.     Fiduciary Funds

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Authors: Mark S. Beasley, Ph.D., CPA, and Joseph V. Carcello, Ph.D., CPA, CIA, CMA

CCH's GAAS Guide describes the engagement standards, practices, and procedures in use today, including Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) and their Interpretations, Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAEs) and their Interpretations, and Statements on Standards on Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) and their Interpretations.

The 2015 Edition of the GAAS Guide reflects the latest available professional standards. Most importantly, changes in auditing standards and the related Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards resulting from the Auditing Standards Board’s (ASB) Clarity and Convergence Project.

This edition includes coverage of

• SAS-122 (essentially all of the AU-C sections) (Clarification and Recodification), issued in October 2011,
• SAS-123 (AU-C 200, AU-C 230, AU-C 260, AU-C 705, AU-C 720, AU 915, and AU-C 935) (Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards — 2011), issued in October 2011,
• SAS-124 (AU-C 910) (Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with a Financial Reporting Framework Generally Accepted in Another Country), issued in October 2011,
• SAS-125 (AU-C 905) (Alert that Restricts the Use of the Auditor’s Written Communication), issued in December 2011,
• SAS-126 (AU-C 570) (The Auditor’s Consideration of the Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern), issued in July 2012, and
• SAS-127 (AU-C 600 and AU-C 800) (Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards—2013), issued in January 2013.

• SAS-127 (AU-C 600 and AU-C 900) (Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards—2013)
• SSAE-17 (AT 301) (Reporting on Compiled Prospective Financial Statements When the Practitioner’s Independence Is Impaired)
• SSARS-20 (Revised Applicability of Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services)

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Authors: Mark S. Beasley, Ph.D., CPA, and Joseph V. Carcello, Ph.D., CPA, CIA, CMA

The GAAS Guide describes today's engagement standards, practices, and
procedures in use today, including:

• Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) and AU-C Sections,
• Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAEs),
• Statements on Standards on Accounting and Review Services (SSARSs) and their relationship to the PCAOB's standards.

The latest interpretations of all the standards are also included. Most importantly, it has been updated to reflect changes in auditing standards and the related Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards resulting from the Auditing Standards Board’s Clarity and Convergence Project.

The 2014 Edition includes coverage of the following:

• SAS-125 (AU 905) (Alert that Restricts the Use of the Auditor’s Written Communication)
• SSAE-17 (AT 301) (Reporting on Compiled Prospective Financial Statements When the Practitioner’s Independence is Impaired)
• SSARS-20 (Revised Applicability of Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services)

The book is organized to follow the arrangement of the AICPA's Professional Standards. Each section begins with a list of authoritative pronouncements and an Overview. A Promulgated Procedures Checklist identifies the essential professional responsibilities that must be satisfied in each phase of an engagement followed by an Analysis and Application of Reporting Standards, which explains how each specific promulgated procedure should be applied.

Throughout the book Risk Assessment Points, Engagement Strategies, Planning Aid Reminders, and Observations provide helpful, practical tips. Fraud Pointers alert practitioners to issues affecting auditor responsibility for fraud and fraud risks throughout the audit engagement. To keep CPAs abreast of potential changes affecting AICPA professional standards, this edition contains new overviews of outstanding exposure drafts, which highlight key elements of possible changes to existing professional standards.

The sample letters, reports, and checklists found in the text are included on a CD-ROM. They can be customized.

• AU 200: General Principles and Responsibilities
• AU 300: Risk Assessment and Response to Assessed Risks
• AU 500: Audit Evidence
• AU 600: Using the Work of Others
• AU 700: Audit Conclusions and Reporting

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Full Article

The GAAS Guide describes today's engagement standards, practices, and procedures in use today, including Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs), Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAEs), and Statements on Standards on Accounting and Review Services (SSARSs) and their relationship to the PCAOB's standards. The latest interpretations of all the standards are also included. Most importantly, it has been updated to reflect changes in auditing standards and the related Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards resulting from the Auditing Standards Board’s Clarity and Convergence Project. This edition includes coverage of SAS-122 (essentially all AU sections) (Clarification and Recodification), issued in October 2011, SAS-123 (AU 200, AU 230, AU 260, AU 705, AU 720, AU 915, and AU 935) (Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards — 2011), issued in October 2011, SAS-124 (AU 910) (Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with a Financial Reporting Framework Generally Accepted in Another Country), issued in October 2011, and SAS-125 (AU 905) (Alert that Restricts the Use of the Auditor’s Written Communication), issued in December 2011.

SAS-122 is particularly noteworthy as it represents the culmination of the ASB’s efforts to clarify the auditing standards and to largely converge its standards with the standards of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. As such, SAS-122 supersedes most of the existing auditing standards and recodifies the clarified and converged standards in one place (essentially similar to the design of SAS-1 many years ago). In addition, as part of its efforts, the ASB has issued these new standards using a new codification numbering sequence. We adopt this new numbering sequence in this year’s Guide.

The 2013 Edition includes coverage of the following:

• SAS-125 (AU 905) (Alert that Restricts the Use of the Auditor’s Written Communication)
• SSAE-17 (AT 301) (Reporting on Compiled Prospective Financial Statements When the Practitioner’s Independence is Impaired)
• SSARS-20 (Revised Applicability of Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services)

The book is organized to follow the arrangement of the AICPA's Professional Standards. Each section begins with a list of authoritative pronouncements and an Overview. A Promulgated Procedures Checklist identifies the essential professional responsibilities that must be satisfied in each phase of an engagement followed by an Analysis and Application of Reporting Standards, which explains how each specific promulgated procedure should be applied. Practitioner's Aids provide additional guidance on how to apply the promulgated standards to specific engagements.

Throughout the book Risk Assessment Points, Engagement Strategies, Planning Aid Reminders, and Observations provide helpful, practical tips. Fraud Pointers alert practitioners to issues affect

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This practical reference contains all of the important authoritative pronouncements on GAAP with references to ASC codification, and the corresponding references to the original literature, including APB Opinions, Accounting Research Bulletins, FASB Statements, Staff Positions, Interpretations, Technical Bulletins, and Concepts, as well as AICPA Statements of Position as an aid. Securities and Exchange Financial Reporting Releases and EITF Issues are also covered when appropriate.

This volume contains accounting principles, financial reporting presentation requirements, required and recommended disclosures, and specialized accounting topics. The book includes examples, tables, exhibits, and practice aids that demonstrate how to apply GAAP in practice. In some cases, flowcharts are presented to explain, in clearer terms, the practitioner's decision process in applying a pronouncement. Current footnotes from annual reports provide clear examples of reporting.

The book also comes with a free companion CD-ROM that contains an electronic version of the book.

The 2013 GAAP Handbook covers the following topics:

PART I:       FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
PART II:      MAJOR ACCOUNTING AREAS AND REPORTING
PART III:     FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS
PART IV:     GAAP IN SPECIALIZED INDUSTRIES

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The GAAP Handbook provides many rules of thumb. Its content includes informative rules, policies, and procedures applicable to CPAs and may be used as a training medium.
    
This practical reference contains all of the important authoritative pronouncements on GAAP with references to ASC codification, and the corresponding references to the original literature, including APB Opinions, Accounting Research Bulletins, FASB Statements, Staff Positions, Interpretations, Technical Bulletins, and Concepts, as well as AICPA Statements of Position as an aid. Securities and Exchange Financial Reporting Releases and EITF Issues are also covered when appropriate.
        
The book also comes with a free companion CD-ROM that contains an electronic version of the book.

PART I: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

• Reporting, Presentation, and Disclosures for the Income Statement
• Revenue Recognition
• Balance Sheet Reporting and Disclosures: Assets
• Balance Sheet Presentation and Disclosures: Liabilities
• Balance Sheet Reporting: Stockholders' Equity
• Statement of Cash Flows
• Other Financial Statement Types and Related Items
• Disclosures

• Accounting Changes and Error Corrections
• Investments in Equity and Debt Securities
• Business Combinations
• Consolidation
• Leases
• Pension Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
• Income Tax Accounting

• Foreign Currency Translation and Transactions
• Derivatives, Repurchase Agreements, and Disclosures of Credit Risk and Fair Values: Accounting,  Reporting, and Disclosures
• International Financial Reporting Standards: An Examination of Accounting Convergence

• Accounting in Specialized Industries

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CCH's 2013 GAAP Guide, Volumes I and II provide the most comprehensive resource for understanding and applying authoritative GAAP literature in clear language. Each FASB Accounting Standards Codification pronouncement/topic is discussed in a comprehensive format that makes it easy to understand and implement in day-to-day practice. Practical illustrations and examples demonstrate and clarify specific accounting principles.

This two-volume set's detailed cross-reference table, index, and useful references to the original GAAP literature help you quickly locate the information you need in the way you are most comfortable with. Major standards, and interpretations of major standards, are covered in Volume I, and guidance for more narrow transactions is provided in Volume II.

Chapter 1 ASC 105—Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Chapter 2 ASC 205—Presentation of Financial Statements
Chapter 3 ASC 210—Balance Sheet
Chapter 4 ASC 215—Statement of Shareholder Equity
Chapter 5 ASC 220—Comprehensive Income
Chapter 6 ASC 225—Income Statement
Chapter 7 ASC 230—Statement of Cash Flows
Chapter 8 ASC 235—Accounting Policies and Standards
Chapter 9 ASC 250—Accounting Changes and Error Corrections
Chapter 10 ASC 255—Changing Prices
Chapter 11 ASC 260—Earnings Per Share
Chapter 12 ASC 270—Interim Reporting
Chapter 13 ASC 272—Limited Liability Entities
Chapter 14 ASC 274—Personal Financial Statements
Chapter 15 ASC 275—Risks and Uncertainties
Chapter 16 ASC 280—Segment Reporting
Chapter 17 ASC 305—Cash and Cash Equivalents
Chapter 18 ASC 310—Receivables
Chapter 19 ASC 320—Investments—Debt and Equity Securities
Chapter 20 ASC 323—Investments—Equity Method & Joint Ventures
Chapter 21 ASC 325—Investments—Other
Chapter 22 ASC 330—Inventory
Chapter 23 ASC 340—Deferred Costs and Other Assets
Chapter 24 ASC 350—Intangibles—Goodwill and Other
Chapter 25 ASC 360—Property, Plant, and Equipment
Chapter 26 ASC 405—Liabilities
Chapter 27 ASC 410—Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations
Chapter 28 ASC 420—Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations
Chapter 29 ASC 430—Deferred Revenue
Chapter 30 ASC 440—Commitments
Chapter 31 ASC 450—Contingencies
Chapter 32 ASC 460—Guarantees
Chapter 33 ASC 470—Debt
Chapter 34 ASC 480—Distinguishing Liabilities From Equity
Chapter 35 ASC 505—Equity
Chapter 36 ASC 605—Revenue Recognition
Chapter 37 ASC 705—Cost of Sales and Services
Chapter 38 ASC 710—Compensation—General
Chapter 39 ASC 712—Compensation—Noretirement Postemployment Benefits
Chapter 40 ASC 715—Compensation—Retirement Benefits
Chapter 41 ASC 718—Compensation—Stock Compensation
Chapter 42 ASC 720—Other Expenses
Chapter 43 ASC 730—Research and Development
Chapter 4

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Authors:
Jan R. Williams, Ph.D., CPA;
Joseph V. Carcello, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CIA;
Terry Neal, CPA; and Judith Weiss, CPA

CCH's GAAP Guide provides the most comprehensive resource for understanding and applying authoritative GAAP literature in clear language. Each FASB Accounting Standards Codification pronouncement/topic is discussed in a comprehensive format that makes it easy to understand and implement in day-to-day practice. Practical illustrations and examples demonstrate and clarify specific accounting principles.

The Guide is organized by ASC Topic, and each chapter contains guidance for both major standards and more narrow transactions. The GAAP Guide satisfies all AICPA peer review standards and requirements.