swaitsandClaude Opus 5.5
ad572ae89d
Stephen asked that specs come from recognized documents, not from anyone's memory. There is no single US bookkeeping bible; authority is layered, and this records it: - docs/spec/sources/: verbatim excerpts (whitespace normalized), each with URL, retrieval date, and the SHA-256 of the fetched file, of public-domain texts: Pacioli's 1494 treatise in Geijsbeek's 1914 translation (double entry, the trial balance, one money, write only forward, correct by opposite entry, close into capital); IRS Pub. 583, 538, 946, 15; the 1099-MISC/NEC instructions (2025 and 2026); 26 U.S.C. §6041, §6041A, §704; Treas. Reg. §1.263(a)-1(f) and -4(f); Notice 2015-82; Rev. Proc. 98-25; Form 1065 instructions; 17 U.S.C. §105. The excerpts were extracted by matching each passage against the fetched file, so none can contain text the source doesn't. - docs/spec/rules.md: the rule catalog, B-1 to B-22. Each rule says AUTHORITY, CONVENTION, or DECISION; cites its sources (FASB's Codification and Concepts Statement 8 and OpenStax quoted briefly, never copied: copyright and CC BY-NC-SA); and names the code that enforces it and the tests and proofs that check it. - Spec blocks in the code now carry SOURCE: lines into the catalog; AGENTS.md makes sourcing rule 0 of the formal-methods bar. Corrections the sources turned up: the de minimis limit is $500 in the regulation and $2,500 by Notice 2015-82 (both now cited); 1099 thresholds after 2026 are inflation-indexed, so the engine's flat $2,000 for 2027+ is an open question (B-19). Unverified ASC paragraphs (360-10-35-4, 340-10, 230-10-45-10, 606-10-55-37B, 210) are listed in docs/spec/README.md until someone with a FASB basic-view login reads them. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GWVo7x3UHw5kwCUaWxiejX
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Specification sources
wanderbooks' rules come from documents, not from anyone's memory. This
directory holds the authorities the engine's specs cite (docs/spec/rules.md
is the rule catalog), and every spec block in the code carries a SOURCE:
line pointing into it.
The authority stack
There is no single "bible" of US bookkeeping. Authority is layered, and the layers differ in what they cover and in whether we may copy them:
| Layer | What it governs | Copyright | Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacioli (1494), Geijsbeek translation (1914) | The mechanics of double entry: debits equal credits, the trial balance, one money, writing only forward, correcting by opposite entry, closing into capital. No modern standard restates these; they predate every regulator. | Public domain | Vendored verbatim: sources/pacioli-1494.md |
| IRS: Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, publications, form instructions | Records and supporting documents, retention, accounting periods and methods, information returns (1099), capitalization (de minimis, 12-month rule), partners' capital, payroll taxes, rounding on returns | Public domain (17 U.S.C. §105; IRS.gov's content policy) | Vendored verbatim: sources/irs-*.md, sources/us-public-domain-status.md |
| FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) | Authoritative US GAAP: cash flows (ASC 230), revenue and principal vs agent (ASC 606), foreign currency (ASC 830), credit losses and aging (ASC 326), property and depreciation (ASC 360) | © Financial Accounting Foundation | Cited by paragraph with short quotes only (in rules.md) |
| FASB Concepts Statement No. 8, Chapter 4 (2021) | Definitions of the five elements (it replaced Concepts Statement 6) | © Financial Accounting Foundation; non-authoritative | Cited with short quotes only |
| Textbooks (OpenStax Principles of Accounting, Vol. 1) | Conventions no standard states: normal balances, closing-entry mechanics, straight-line depreciation arithmetic | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (incompatible with this repo's license) | Cited with short quotes and attribution only |
| Convention or decision | Where no authority speaks: aging bucket edges, cent rounding among members, closed-period locks | — | Stated as CONVENTION or DECISION, with who decided and when |
How to read a SOURCE line
SOURCE: Pacioli ch. 36 (sources/pacioli-1494.md); IRS Pub. 583 (sources/irs-records.md)
SOURCE: ASC 830-20-30-1 (cited, rules.md B-3)
SOURCE: DECISION (Stephen, 2026-10-13)
SOURCE: CONVENTION (QuickBooks aging); nearest authority ASC 326-20-55-38 (illustrative)
A rule whose only source is CONVENTION or DECISION is a candidate for a human to confirm or overturn; nothing else is.
Vendoring rules
- Public-domain texts are copied verbatim (whitespace normalized), each with its URL, retrieval date, and the SHA-256 of the retrieved file, so anyone can check the excerpt against the original.
- Copyrighted sources are cited by paragraph, quoted briefly, never copied.
- When an authority changes (the IRS revises a publication; a statute is amended), add the new text beside the old with its effective date. Rules that depend on dates (1099 thresholds) must say which text applies when.
Open: sources we could not verify
Read on 2026-10-13 through Deloitte's free DART roadmaps, which reproduce ASC text: ASC 230-10-45-16 and -28, 326-20-55-37/38, 606-10-25-23, 45-2, 55-37/38, 830-20-30-1. Not yet verified (the ASC's free basic view needs a login): ASC 360-10-35-4 (depreciation), 340-10 (prepaids), 230-10-45-10, 606-10-55-37B, 210 (balance sheet). Until someone with a FASB basic-view account reads them, the rules that would cite them cite the textbook and say so.