Even though accounting records go back hundreds of years, there was little effort to develop accounting standards until the 1900s. The first major...

Even though accounting records go back hundreds of years, there was little effort to develop accounting standards until the 1900s. The first major effort to develop accounting standards in the United States came in 1939 when the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants formed the Committee on Accounting Procedures. As the number of standards increased, an issue called “standards overload” emerged. Essentially, the charge of “standards overload” is that there are too many accounting standards and that the standards are too complicated. Many individuals charging that standards overload is a problem maintain that more professional judgment should be allowed in financial accounting.Some individuals take a position that selected standards should not apply to nonpublic companies. Others take a position that “little” companies should be exempt from selected standards. There has been some selective exclusion from standards in the past. Examples of selective exclusion are the following:1. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 21, “Suspension of the Reporting of