Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Accounting practice encompasses a wide variety of organizational activities which include the recording of financial transactions and events in the firm's books, the use of financial information for management decision‐making and control purposes, and the preparation and audit of financial statements prepared for external users such as investors, customers, and employees. There are many textbooks available which provide introductory, intermediate, and advanced treatments of the technical and managerial issues raised by such accounting activities. The current volume cannot possibly aim to provide in depth coverage of the vast range of activities which comprise modern accounting practice. Instead, it aims to provide a way in to the expanding accounting research literature which in recent years has come to provide a variety of perspectives on the big issues confronting accounting practice. I briefly consider some of these perspectives here. Some of the contributions to the volume focus on particular financial reporting, auditing, or management accounting topics and outline alternative possible approaches or treatments within (and perhaps beyond) existing conventions or rules. The information contained in the main financial statements (the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, and the cash flow statement) is discussed; important aspects of financial reporting such as the treatment ... log in or subscribe to read full text