Cash and Cash Equivalents

ASC 305 is the Codification's topic for Cash and Cash Equivalents, but it is essentially an empty shell: the Overall subtopic (305-10) and all three industry subtopics — investment companies (305-946), depository and lending institutions (305-942), and health care entities (305-954) — had their overview, scope, presentation, and disclosure paragraphs superseded, mostly by Maintenance Update 2017-21 (with 305-10-55-1 superseded by ASU 2012-04 and 305-954-45-4 by ASU 2016-14). Because no recognition, measurement, or disclosure requirements remain, practitioners must look elsewhere: ASC 230 for the definition of cash equivalents, statement of cash flows presentation, and restricted cash (ASU 2016-18); ASC 210 for balance sheet classification; and the industry topics themselves (942-305 for bank reserve balances, 946 for investment company statements, 954 for health care presentation). The key takeaway is that Maintenance Updates are non-substantive cleanup — the superseded paragraph numbers are retained only for reference continuity and impose no requirements, so the deletions relocated guidance rather than changed accounting.

Subtopics

1. 10Overall7 ¶

   ASC 305-10 is the Overall subtopic of the Cash and Cash Equivalents topic, but its substantive content has been removed — the scope, overview, and implementation guidance paragraphs were superseded by Maintenance Update 2017-21 and ASU 2012-04. As a result, 305-10 today functions largely as a placeholder heading; the operative guidance on cash and cash equivalents lives elsewhere, principally in ASC 230 (definition and presentation of cash equivalents, restricted cash) and ASC 210 (balance sheet classification).

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2. 942Financial Services—Depository and Lending6 ¶

   ASC 305-942 was the industry-specific guidance on cash and cash equivalents for depository and lending institutions (banks, savings institutions, credit unions). Every paragraph in the subtopic — scope, presentation, and disclosure — was superseded by Maintenance Update 2017-21, so the subtopic contains no operative guidance. Entities in this industry now apply the general guidance in ASC 305 and, for restricted/reserve balances and cash flow classification, ASC 942-305 and ASC 230.

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3. 946Financial Services—Investment Companies5 ¶

   ASC 305-946 was the investment-company-specific guidance on cash and cash equivalents. Every remaining paragraph (05-1, 15-1, 45-1, 45-2) was superseded by Maintenance Update 2017-21, so the subtopic contains no substantive guidance today. Investment companies now look to the general cash guidance in ASC 305 and to the presentation and disclosure requirements in ASC 946.

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4. 954Health Care Entities7 ¶

   ASC 305-954 was the health care industry-specific guidance on cash and cash equivalents, but it now contains no operative content — every paragraph has been superseded or is unused. Health care entities therefore follow the general guidance in Topic 305 together with the broader health care presentation rules in Topic 954.

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