In the hierarchy of generally accepted accounting principles, APB Opinions have the same authority as AICPA:

Under the historical U.S. GAAP hierarchy that existed before the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, both Accounting Principles Board (APB) Opinions and AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins (ARBs) were classified as "Level A" sources. This was the highest level of authority for accounting principles. These pronouncements were issued by predecessor bodies to the FASB, and their non-superseded principles were carried forward into the Codification as authoritative GAAP. The other options listed represented lower levels of authority or were non-authoritative.

A. Statements of Position: These were considered "Level B" in the historical GAAP hierarchy, a level of authority below APB Opinions.
B. Industry Audit and Accounting Guides: These were also designated as "Level B" authority, making them less authoritative than APB Opinions.
C. Issues Papers: These were non-authoritative documents published by the AICPA to stimulate discussion on emerging issues and were not part of the formal GAAP hierarchy. ---

1. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). (2008). Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 162, The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Paragraph A3, Category (a) explicitly lists "FASB Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and Interpretations, APB Opinions, and AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins" as having the highest level of authority in the pre-codification hierarchy.

2. Kieso, D. E., Weygandt, J. J., & Warfield, T. D. (2019). Intermediate Accounting (17th ed.). Wiley. Chapter 1, "Financial Accounting and Accounting Standards," discusses the historical development of financial accounting standards. It describes the GAAP hierarchy, placing APB Opinions and ARBs in the top tier (Level A) of authoritative literature prior to the FASB Codification. (See section on "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles").

3. Spiceland, J. D., Nelson, M. W., & Thomas, W. B. (2021). Intermediate Accounting (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 1, "Environment and Theoretical Structure of Financial Accounting," details the pre-codification GAAP hierarchy. The text confirms that APB Opinions and ARBs constituted the most authoritative level of GAAP alongside FASB Statements.