{"schema_version":2,"canonical_url":"https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/320/10/#15-scope-and-scope-exceptions","source":"FASB Accounting Standards Codification, Basic View","usage":"Study and research edition. Verify current requirements with the official source. Summaries, enrichment, and tags are machine-generated study aids. Paragraph html preserves source markup; snippet is abbreviated. Pending content is not necessarily effective.","topic":"320","topic_title":"Investments—Debt Securities","subtopic":"320-10","subtopic_title":"Overall","section":{"number":"15","label":"15 Scope and Scope Exceptions","anchor":"15-scope-and-scope-exceptions","is_sec":false,"groups":[{"block":null,"heading":"Overall Guidance","paragraphs":[{"citation":"320-10-15-1","para":"15-1","html":"
The Scope Section of the Overall Subtopic establishes the scope for the Investments—Debt Securities Topic.
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The guidance in the Investments—Debt Securities Topic applies to all entities, including the following entities that are not deemed to belong to specialized industries for purposes of this Topic:
  1. a
    Cooperatives and mutual entities (such as credit unions and mutual insurance entities)
  2. b
    Trusts that do not report substantially all of their debt securities at fair value.
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The guidance in this Topic does not apply to the following entities:
  1. a
    Entities in certain specialized industries. Entities whose specialized accounting practices include accounting for substantially all investments in debt securities at fair value, with changes in value recognized in earnings (income) or in the change in net assets. Examples of those entities are:
    1. 1
      Brokers and dealers in securities (Topic 940)
    2. 2
      Defined benefit pension, other postretirement, and health and welfare plans (Topics 960, 962, and 965)
    3. 3
      Investment companies (Topic 946).
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This Topic does not apply to not-for-profit entities (NFPs). Subtopic 958-320 establishes standards for investments in debt securities by NFPs.
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The guidance in the Investments—Debt Securities Topic establishes standards of financial accounting and reporting for all investments in debt securities, including those resulting from the securitization of other financial instruments.
  1. a
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01.
  2. b
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01.
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The guidance in this Topic applies to all loans that meet the definition of a security.
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The guidance in this Topic does not apply to any of the following:
  1. a
    Derivative instruments that are subject to the requirements of Topic 815, including those that have been separated from a host contract as required by Section 815-15-25. If an investment would otherwise be in the scope of this Topic and it has within it an embedded derivative that is required by that Section to be separated, the host instrument (as described in that Section) remains within the scope of this Topic.
  2. b
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01.
  3. c
    Subparagraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01.
  4. d
    Investments in consolidated subsidiaries.
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Paragraph 815-10-15-141 explains that the guidance in the Certain Contracts on Debt and Equity Securities Subsections applies to those forward contracts and purchased options that are not derivative instruments subject to Topic 815 but that involve the acquisition of securities that will be accounted for under Subtopic 320-10.
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For debt securities within its scope, Subtopic 310-20 provides incremental guidance on accounting for discounts and premiums.
","snippet":"For debt securities within its scope, Subtopic 310-20 provides incremental guidance on accounting for discounts and premiums.","pending":false,"provenance":{"source_url":"https://asc.fasb.org/","snapshot_version":"sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f","record_version":"sha256:7f22675d1e239bd34757446a802ad37497de4672aac148f537d96823189ee8ef","downloaded_from":"2026-09-09T23:34:43.164Z","last_downloaded_at":"2026-09-09T23:34:43.164Z","date_scope":"source_page","effective_as_of":null,"effective_as_of_status":"Not established by retrieval timestamps","source_key":"1943274/2147481797","source_sha256":"a15361e8ad86d8564ae6eca558fba5a2152ca9a4edfd4e0671daaeae424c67d6"}},{"citation":"320-10-15-9","para":"15-9","html":"
For debt securities within its scope, Subtopic 325-40 provides incremental guidance on accounting for and reporting discount and credit losses.
","snippet":"For debt securities within its scope, Subtopic 325-40 provides incremental guidance on accounting for and reporting discount and credit losses.","pending":false,"provenance":{"source_url":"https://asc.fasb.org/","snapshot_version":"sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f","record_version":"sha256:8e769eb08f00d639c16afb79542140bd9f202540529b2842d5473c75a4458357","downloaded_from":"2026-09-09T23:34:43.164Z","last_downloaded_at":"2026-09-09T23:34:43.164Z","date_scope":"source_page","effective_as_of":null,"effective_as_of_status":"Not established by retrieval timestamps","source_key":"1943274/2147481797","source_sha256":"a15361e8ad86d8564ae6eca558fba5a2152ca9a4edfd4e0671daaeae424c67d6"}},{"citation":"320-10-15-10","para":"15-10","html":"
Paragraph superseded by Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13.
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