Distinction Between Generic Items and Specific Items

The GIFI consists of items you find on a balance sheet and on an income statement. The balance sheet section consists of items pertaining to assets, liabilities and equity for corporations or partners' capital for partnerships. Items specific to retained earnings for corporations are included in this area as well. The income statement section consists of items you find under revenue, cost of sales and expenses.

Due to the specific reporting needs of the agriculture industry, a separate section for farming revenues and expenses is provided. A section for extraordinary items and income taxes can be found after the farming section.

To obtain a complete list of the GIFI items, refer to Appendix A in the guide RC4088, General Index of Financial Information (GIFI).

The GIFI is further divided into blocks of items within these sections. Within each GIFI schedule, the item at the start of each block is identified with an asterisk. This item represents the generic term for items within the block. If you cannot find the item that is an exact or close match to the item on the financial statements, you can use the generic item. This generic item at the start of each block does not represent the total of the items in the block.

The specific items correspond more or less exactly to the item on the financial statements.