The Choice Between Alternative Accepted Principles of Accounting

Ever one to display a sense of humor, Graham commented to the audience at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Ohio Society of Accountants before which he presented this paper that a better title for the paper would be the “Rambling Reflections of a Renegade.” While he may have been a “Renegade” accountant, Graham focused attention in this paper on a number of problem areas in accounting wherein the decisions of management are frequently arbitrary regarding the selection of methods of accounting, made with an eye on current reported profits, and accepted without question by public accountants because the method is “acceptable”.