he Sherwin Williams Company filed its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 with the SEC on 2020-02-21. The Notes to the Financial Statements in Item 8 of the Report contains several references to the ASC. However, the company does not indicate the actual ASC reference numbers for those references. While this is not a financial reporting deficiency, there may be some institutional financial statement readers who might find those reference numbers to be useful. Additionally, students of financial reporting would welcome those references.

REQUIRED

In the table below, I have identified five examples where Sherwin Williams used the phrase In accordance with Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) but did not disclose the actual reference numbers for the ASC.

Task A: Access the ASC, identify the relevant ASC number and indicate the proper ASC reference number in the box next to each example in the table below.

Task B: In the first paragraph above, I stated the following:

However, the company does not indicate the actual ASC reference numbers for those references. While this is not a financial reporting deficiency, there may be some institutional financial statement readers who might find those reference numbers to be useful. Additionally, students of financial reporting would welcome those references.

Do you agree with this statement? Why? Use no more than 200 words. You must use at least one expert or authoritative source in addressing this issue. An accounting professional who works for or audits an SEC registrant (e.g., SHW, FE, GT, SJM, etc.) is an appropriate expert.

EXAMPLES FROM SHERWIN WILLIAMS 2019 FORM 10-K	ASC REFERENCE NUMBER
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Goodwill represents the cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations accounted for by the purchase method. Intangible assets include indefinite-lived trademarks, customer relationships and intellectual property. In accordance with the Goodwill and Other Intangibles Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC), goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks are not amortized, but instead are tested for impairment on an annual basis, as well as whenever an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate impairment has more likely than not occurred. The costs of finite-lived intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected period of benefit, which ranges primarily from 15 to 20 years. See Note 6.
2. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets In accordance with the Property, Plant and Equipment Topic of the ASC, management evaluates the recoverability and remaining lives of long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable or the useful life has changed. See Notes 4 and 6.
3. Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans The Company accounts for its defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans in accordance with the Retirement Benefits Topic of the ASC, which requires the recognition of a plans funded status as an asset for overfunded plans and as a liability for unfunded or underfunded plans. See Note 8.
4. Stock-Based Compensation The cost of the Companys stock-based compensation is recorded in accordance with the Stock Compensation Topic of the ASC. See Note 14.
5. Earnings Per Share Common stock held in a revocable trust (see Note 12) was not included in outstanding shares for basic or diluted income per share calculations. Basic and diluted net income per share were calculated using the treasury stock method in accordance with the Earnings Per Share Topic of the ASC. Basic net income per share amounts were computed based on the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the year. Diluted net income per share amounts were computed based on the weighted-average number of shares outstanding plus all dilutive securities potentially outstanding during the year. See Note 20.

TASK B WRITE YOUR ANSWER TO TASK B HERE.