Cost Accounting Standards: recommended professional standards guide uniform cost records and mandatory reporting of deviations. The Cost Accounting Standard Board issues recommendatory Cost Accounting Standards to provide uniform guidance on cost statements, record maintenance and cost audit reporting. Standards are developed via national consultation, exposure drafts and comment consideration, contain explanatory and operative parts with effective dates, and may be revised. They are persuasive for Institute members, apply to preparation of cost documents and cost accounting records, and require cost auditors to report deviations; statutory enforcement is sought through national standard boards and legislative inclusion.