ABSTRACT
The cornerstone of 'The Foundations' is the proposition that accounting representations are surrogates of underlying economic reality. While decision makers are interested in the underlying reality, the accounting measurement provides only a surrogate or symbolic representation of that reality. The intent of a measurement is to represent a given relation among objects by predetermined relation among the numbers. This study of number systems is an integral part of 'The Foundations of Accounting Measurement'. Accounting research should include methods of developing relations among symbols known as numbers; the most useful mathematics for developing such relations appears to be set theory. The difference between the sacrifice value of economic resources and their benefit value is defined as the utility differential of the goods. The manner in which this utility differential is transformed into a monetary differential is the second main feature of the nature of accounting values.
