ABSTRACT
The past fifty years have seen a surge of accounting novelties without parallel in its prior history. Yet countless tradespeople and firms have survived and prospered under the guidance of persons of modest education and a measure of commonsense, while many ‘high-fliers’ around the world have crashed spectacularly to the dismay of those who trusted in their acumen. One reason for this conjunction seems to be the reliance of segments of the financial community on apparently sophisticated but quite naive innovations in accounting practice. It suggests reform of accounting ideas and practices by recourse to the essential simplicity of commercial intercourse.
