Accounting: A Socio-economic View

Abstract

To those uninitiated to the world of accounting, the use of different accounting information sets, the choice of which depends on the respective business contexts, may be perplexing. Many expect one single truthful report about a firm or a project and not a possible diverse set of numbers with the comment ‘it depends ‘. For the accountant, it is sometimes perplexing to find out in how many ways and with which motives the state can get involved to regulate aspects of accounting, and that many institutions thought of as ‘genuine’ to the accounting world operate in the long shadow of the state. The following brief sketch may thus serve as an introduction for both the accountant and the non-accountant.