Technical Accounting Research

Technical Accounting Research

Overview

Handle transaction-specific accounting questions through a fixed sequence: gather facts, confirm output format, research guidance online, apply standards, and deliver a DOCX report.

Required Behavior

• Ask clarification questions before analysis.
• Confirm requested output format: memo, email, or q-and-a.
• Research the internet before final conclusions, even if guidance seems familiar.
• Distinguish authoritative guidance from interpretive guidance.
• Cite sources with links and accessed date in the deliverable.
• State assumptions explicitly when facts remain unknown.

Workflow

1. Intake and Scope

• Capture the user issue in one sentence.
• Confirm reporting basis and jurisdiction (US GAAP, SEC filer status, and whether disclosures are public-company or private-company focused).
• Confirm reporting period and materiality context.

2. Clarification Questions (Mandatory)

• Use references/clarification-question-bank.md.
• Ask only the questions needed for the fact pattern; do not skip critical facts.
• Pause analysis until enough facts are available to form a defensible conclusion.
• If facts stay incomplete, proceed with explicit assumptions and sensitivity notes.

3. Output Format Confirmation (Mandatory)

• Ask which format is required (memo for formal documentation, email for concise communication, q-and-a for direct question and answer support).
• If no preference is provided, default to memo.

4. Research Guidance

• Research sources using the priority and reliability rules in references/source-priority.md.
• Prefer primary and authoritative sources first (FASB/SEC/AICPA standard-setting materials).
• Use Big 4 publications as interpretive support, not sole authority.
• Capture citation labels and URLs for each source used.

5. Technical Analysis

• Frame the accounting issue.
• Map facts to recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure guidance.
• Evaluate reasonable alternatives and explain rejection rationale.
• Conclude with recommended accounting treatment, disclosure direction, and key risks.
• Include journal entry examples when useful for implementation.

6. Draft and Materialize DOCX

• Build a JSON payload using references/report-json-schema.md.
• Run:

python scripts/build_accounting_report_docx.py \
  --input-json <analysis.json> \
  --output-docx <technical-accounting-report.docx> \
  --format <memo|email|q-and-a>

• The script produces a DOCX with:
• Title and metadata.
• Facts and issue statement.
• Guidance table with links.
• Analysis and conclusion.
• Disclosure considerations.
• Open items and assumptions.

7. Quality Check

• Confirm the conclusion is consistent with cited guidance.
• Confirm all significant assumptions are disclosed.
• Confirm the output format matches user request.
• Confirm every external source in the analysis has a URL listed in the report.

Resources

• Clarifying question checklist: references/clarification-question-bank.md
• Source hierarchy and citation rules: references/source-priority.md
• JSON format for DOCX generation: references/report-json-schema.md
• Example report payload: references/example_report_input.json
• DOCX generator: scripts/build_accounting_report_docx.py

Dependency

Install once if needed:

python -m pip install --user python-docx