Accounting as Science

Abstract

Mathematics is a tool of service, but the use of quantitative digits does not automatically make accounting also a tool of service. The equality of total debits and credits is not an example of scientific perfection. The close interrelation between real and nominal accounts, between balance sheet and income sheet, however, reflect near perfection. Account data from consummated transactions between independent parties also approach near perfection: there is an equivalence, for each party’s transaction of favorable and unfavorable effects, although each party’s intentions have been quite different.

Citation

(2016), "Accounting as Science", A. C. Littleton’s Final Thoughts on Accounting: A Collection of Unpublished Essays (Studies in the Development of Accounting Thought, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 279-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-350420160000020052