To provide external shareholders with relevant, reliable, consistent, and comparable financial information, the accounting profession has adopted _____ to guide the practice of financial accounting.

Generally accepted accounting principles abbreviated as GAAPs , refer to set of accounting rules and principles to ensure clarity, consistency of reported information and to enhance reliability and comparability of accounting information.

GAAPs were prescribed by Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) of the United States. The accountants of public companies in United States are supposed to abide by GAAP principles while compiling accounts and preparing financial statements.

Thus, GAAPs lay emphasis upon presenting financial information which is relevant to the shareholders, which is true and can be relied upon , which is consistent and which can be compared to deduce past trends and for forming opinions and arriving at conclusions.