Accounting Principles GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) are the standard framework of guidelines used by professional accountants to maintain and report financial records. This set of rules provides a framework in which general financial statements can be prepared, allowing companies to provide consistent information to various stakeholders. It helps create financial statements that are transparent and credible, providing more useful information about a company’s finances for planning, budgeting and decision-making purposes. By following these principles consistently over time, companies provide confidence to users of their financial statements that their data is comparable and reliable.