ABSTRACT
Frameworks for thinking about experiences and occurrences have long been the basis of organized knowledge and technology. They consist of sets of descriptive statements of what commonly occurs, and what is therefore possible. The term ‘conceptual framework’ has been given an entirely different interpretation in accounting — a ‘constitution’ prescribing the nature of accounting and its products. In spite of the conceptual framework projects of recent years, the diversity of rules and practices which have prompted attempts to reform accounting persists. These projects have failed through disregard of the role of systematic knowledge in the design of serviceable practical devices.
