ABSTRACT
Accountancy is essential for the proper functioning of capitalism, because, without information on the firm's profit, the capitalist would not know what action he should take. This chapter deals principally with this second aspect of accountancy. It seeks to demonstrate that accountancy, as currently practised, is devoted to serving the current neo-liberal capitalist system—accountancy is capitalism's eager helper or handmaiden. The chapter considers how accountancy has changed in the last 40 years, starting with developments in accounting theory. In recent years, accountancy has taken as its function to favour an extreme form of capitalism: neoliberalism. This development occurred first in accounting theory with the writings of William Beaver, who proposed that the function of accounting was to provide information for investors. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) accepted Beaver's thesis in developing its Conceptual Framework and has followed it in its standard for financial instruments.
