This book investigates the issues raised by the vast array of accounting standards and technical rules which have marked the recent history of accounting. It is argued that the accounting profession is beset by an inferior and incomplete notion of quality in its work which emphasises compliance with processing rules, rather than the correspondence with commercial phenomena necessary to make financial statements reliable guides for human activity.
Author(s): Brian P. West
Series: Routledge New Works in Accounting History
Edition: annotated edition
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 256
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Acknowledgements......Page 8
List of abbreviations......Page 10
Matters in conflict: professionalism, accounting rules and the function of accounting......Page 12
Professions: their nature, roles and responsibilities......Page 24
Accounting as a profession: the extent and origins of occupational authority......Page 52
The nature of accounting rules......Page 75
Explaining the proliferation of accounting rules......Page 97
Professionalism, accounting rules and accounting discourse......Page 123
Professionalism, accounting rules and accounting education......Page 151
Professionalism, accounting rules and accounting practice......Page 174
Advancing professional accounting knowledge......Page 191
Notes......Page 208
References......Page 220
Index......Page 246
