Following a spate of high-profile financial scandals (including Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat), the quality of financial information has come under increasing scrutiny. Many of the accounting standards being imposed on the profession by regulators and standard-setting bodies are now attracting criticism from the business community and the accountancy profession itself.

In this book, Anthony Rayman traces a fundamental flaw in the conventional academic wisdom back to the nineteenth century, and proposes an alternative conceptual framework. He argues that effective corporate governance can be achieved, not by expensive and counterproductive regulations (like the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act and some International Accounting Standards), but by an enhanced accounting information system that exposes corporate management to the full rigour of market forces.

About the Author
Previously of Bradford University, UK.

Reviews

"The author ... unpicks modern financial reporting theory and practice in a systematic and masterly way. ... He exposes what he describes as ... the theoretical blind alley of modern conceptual frameworks for financial reporting ... and the shortcomings of modern investment theory. This is a book for all thinking accountants ... it pushes the boundaries of conventional accounting wisdom so hard that it demands a response from those who ... desire to find truth in accounting."

From the Foreword by Dr. Allister Wilson

This is "a thought-provoking book that challenges the current direction of accounting standards and proposes an interesting alternative. Its novel perspective on financial reporting provides a framework for debating some of the key contemporary issues facing the accountancy profession. The book is suitable for a wide audience and should be of particular interest to students, academics and practitioners."

Professor Colin Drury

'This is a thought-provoking book that challenges the current direction of accounting standards and proposes an interesting alternative. Its novel perspective on financial reporting provides a framework for debating some of the key contemporary issues facing the accountancy profession.' - Colin Drury

Book Information
ISBN 9780415377812
Author R.A. Rayman
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 362g