The modern history of accounting has been marked by the rapid escalation of a vast array of accounting standards and other technical rules. In spite of this enormous regulatory activity, sudden collapses and other associated financial reporting failures persist. In such a climate, audited financial statements are the most highly regulated of commodities but also the least reliable. This book investigates this issue from the perspective of accounting as a professional occupation. The author argues that the accounting profession is beset by an inferior and incomplete notion of quality in its...

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.