ABSTRACT
Since it is the oldest and most comprehensive of the quantitative models in business, accounting—along with its related measurement procedures—has received its full share of critical comment and review. From the viewpoint of progressive development, this is a good thing; for many significant advances in accounting thought have been given impetus by the efforts of those who can make clear the deficiencies of extant procedures. Refinements of costing procedure which improve the relevance of cost data for managerial decision-making are in large measure the consequences of critical comments of managers and economists. The currently growing use of fund statements in annual reports, for example, arose from a need for clearer exposition of financing transactions not reported by earnings-statement procedures. Pressure for better comparability and more adequate disclosure have made American corporate reports the best in the world; yet even now there are demands for extension and improvements in reporting —some of which will no doubt have an effect on practice within the foreseeable future. But the best—if not the only—way in which accounting can be improved is by analysis of those problems with which accounting must deal.
