Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting: Examining the Rules for Proper Reporting

This book revamped standards and guidelines for returning relevance, common sense, and - perhaps Most important - public trust to financial accounting. It's no secret that the staid, stable world of financial accounting has not kept pace with the fast-changing business arena. "Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting" examines how and why many of the rules of financial accounting have strayed so far from reality, and provides specific recommendations on what must be done - and done soon - to restore balance, accountability and public trust to both the profession and its end product. Praise for "Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting": 'With a hard-hitting combination of historical perspective and today's headlines, Dr. Anthony describes how to repair the broken building blocks of today's accounting standards. This book should be required reading for anyone who prepares or uses financial statements' - Phillip D. Ameen Vice President and Comptroller, General Electric Company. 'Dr. Anthony raises important questions about the current methods of reporting on and measuring corporate performance.His suggestions, while certain to be controversial, deserve careful consideration by the accounting profession and others who are concerned with corporate accountability' - Charles Anderson Retired President, Stanford Research Institute. 'At a time when reappraisal is clearly a matter of urgency, Professor Robert Anthony has given serious and intelligent thought to the way we measure and report on the affairs of business enterprises and has proposed practical changes. "Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting" deserves our serous attention and study' - Neil A. Harlan Retired Chairman and CEO, McKesson Corp. 'Most disciplines - physics, chemistry, economics, medicine, engineering, mathematics - have a conceptual framework for reporting measurements and a set of rules consistent with this framework. These frameworks and rules need to be examined from time to time as the world changes. This book focuses on those rules that are in need of examination' - From the introduction. Like any discipline, the foundations of financial accounting must be above reproach before the outcomes can be respected. Unfortunately, recent highly-publicized scandals and resulting 'restatements' have left the public with a decidedly negative viewpoint on the veracity of the numbers they read - and given the mostly honest members of the profession a black eye that will be difficult to erase. Difficult to erase, but not impossible. "Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting" examines every aspect of this profession that is so critical to the health and wealth of our nation, and uncovers a few of those aspects that should be updated and changed to both reflect recent business practices and restore public trust. Written by Professor Robert Anthony, whose seminal textbooks have shaped the manner in which literally millions of financial accountants have learned and applied the skills of their profession, this solution-based approach to repairing the current financial reporting model covers: recent developments, and how they have highlighted the need for financial accounting reforms; individual chapters focusing on controversial concepts and rules, with recommendations for their improvement; and, a capsule summary of recommendations, broken down by chapter for ease of reference and explanation. With one financial accounting scandal after another dominating today's business headlines, the time is long since past for review and revision of some of the basic tenets of this demanding discipline. "Rethinking the Rules of Financial Accounting" prescribes specific actions designed to finally bring financial accounting standards and practices in line with today's hyper-speed pace of change. Comprehensive in its scope and detailed in its recommendations, it promises to be as controversial as it is comprehensive - and will shed much-needed light on an area that has remained in shadows for far too long.