- Source: Trueblood Committee
The Trueblood Committee was a study group formed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 1972 to develop the Objective of Financial Statements.
The committee's goal was to help accountants create financial statements that provided external users with sufficient information to make educated decisions about the economics of companies. In 1978, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) adopted the key objectives established by the Trueblood Committee.
The Trueblood Committee was named for its chairman Robert M. Trueblood. His previously served on the executive committees of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Accounting Principles Board (APB) .
The AICPA began hunting for new objectives of financial statements because prior to the development of the Trueblood Committee many accountants were confused and dissatisfied with the current objectives. Identifying the objectives to financial statements was the purpose behind the creation of the Trueblood Committee. The committee's mission was to create the objectives in a way that would be more easily understandable by accountants and also more relatable to their work.
The two key concepts to take away from the findings of the Trueblood Committee are:
The basic objective of financial statements is to provide useful information to external users for making decisions about a company.
The management of a business is responsible for effectively using resources to achieve maximum profits.
References
= Primary sources
=1. Parker, C. Reed. “The Trueblood Report: An Analyst's View.” Financial Analysts Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, 1975, pp. 32–56. JSTOR 4477781.
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Study Group on the Objectives of Financial Statements. Objectives of financial statements: Report of the Study Group on the Objectives of Financial Statements. 1973. Full-text
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Study Group on the Objectives of Financial Statements. Objectives of financial statements: Report of the Study Group on the Objectives of Financial Statements -- Vol. 2 Selected Papers. 1973. Full-text
= Secondary sources
=Anonymous. "CPAs Investigate Financial Reporting." Tempo, Vol. 18, no. 1 (1971/72, winter), p. 20-22. Full-text
Gellein, Oscar S. "Objectives of Financial Statements." Haskins and Sells Selected Papers. New York: Haskins and Sells, 1973, pp. 25–35. Full-text
Trueblood, Robert M. "Trueblood on the Trueblood Report." Tempo, Vol. 19, no. 1 (1973), p. 01-05. Full-text
External links
Discussion of the Trueblood and Wheat Committees
Article from the CPA Journal about the history and future of accounting
Summary of lecture at Harvard discussing further implementation of Trueblood Committee's Recommendations