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
53 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
# Specification sources
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wanderbooks' rules come from documents, not from anyone's memory. This
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directory holds the authorities the engine's specs cite (`docs/spec/rules.md`
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is the rule catalog), and every spec block in the code carries a `SOURCE:`
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line pointing into it.
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## The authority stack
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There is no single "bible" of US bookkeeping. Authority is layered, and the
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layers differ in what they cover and in whether we may copy them:
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| Layer | What it governs | Copyright | Here |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| **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` |
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| **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` |
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| **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`) |
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| **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 |
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| **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 |
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| **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 |
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## How to read a SOURCE line
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```text
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SOURCE: Pacioli ch. 36 (sources/pacioli-1494.md); IRS Pub. 583 (sources/irs-records.md)
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SOURCE: ASC 830-20-30-1 (cited, rules.md B-3)
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SOURCE: DECISION (Stephen, 2026-10-13)
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SOURCE: CONVENTION (QuickBooks aging); nearest authority ASC 326-20-55-38 (illustrative)
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```
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A rule whose only source is CONVENTION or DECISION is a candidate for a
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human to confirm or overturn; nothing else is.
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## Vendoring rules
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- Public-domain texts are copied **verbatim** (whitespace normalized), each
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with its URL, retrieval date, and the SHA-256 of the retrieved file, so
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anyone can check the excerpt against the original.
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- Copyrighted sources are cited by paragraph, quoted briefly, never copied.
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- When an authority changes (the IRS revises a publication; a statute is
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amended), add the new text beside the old with its effective date. Rules
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that depend on dates (1099 thresholds) must say which text applies when.
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## Open: sources we could not verify
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Read on 2026-10-13 through Deloitte's free DART roadmaps, which reproduce
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ASC text: ASC 230-10-45-16 and -28, 326-20-55-37/38, 606-10-25-23, 45-2,
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55-37/38, 830-20-30-1. Not yet verified (the ASC's free basic view needs a
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login): ASC 360-10-35-4 (depreciation), 340-10 (prepaids), 230-10-45-10,
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606-10-55-37B, 210 (balance sheet). Until someone with a FASB basic-view
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account reads them, the rules that would cite them cite the textbook and
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say so.
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