ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the accounting statements, the balance sheet and the profit and loss account. The accounting statements is the corporate financial statements (CFS) that continue to rank first and second among the four primary documents listed in the International Accounting Standards Board's entitled A Review of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. The chapter discusses the other two financial statements are the statement of cash flows and the statement of changes in equity. Coverage of the former is contained, while publication of the latter became standard practice in Britain. The chapter draws upon agency theory as 'a useful lens through which to observe the contours of change in financial accounting practice'. It suggests that a study of the 'history of accounting' as a set of procedures or practices in contrast to 'socio-historical accounting research', which focuses on how accounting impacts on individuals, organizations and society.
