The contributions in this book, most of which are not widely available, discuss the evolution of financial reporting at a time when it was rare for companies to present detailed reports to their shareholders. Some early annual reports are reprinted here, including the 1902 annual report of the United States Steel Corporation, the 1909 annual report of the International Harvester Company, the 1910 annual report of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company and the 1911 annual report of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company.

Beginning with first principles, then discussing the origin and evolution of the debate over depreciation, capital and income, several related topics are addressed in this volume originally published in 1993. These include the allocation problem, interest rate approximations, issues concerning financial reporting and analysis and the meaning and economic impact of ‘accounting error’. The underlying themes concern the importance of history and the need for an appreciation of basic concepts and relationships in accounting

Global in scope, accounting has had its share of great thinkers and practitioners, from Luca Pacioloi, the father of accounting, to R. J. Chambers, W. W. Cooper, Yuji Ijiri, Stephen A. Zeff and other figures. This encyclopedia presents more than 400 entries that focus on such subjects as publications in the field, institutional bodies, accounting and economic concepts, accounting issues, authors in accounting, records, leaders in the profession, accounting in various countries, financial court cases, accounting exams and historical researchers.

There are introductory analyses by the editor and suggested further readings for discussion or essay papers.

The extensively revised 8th edition thoroughly involves readers with Financial Statements by using real-world examples. The emphasis is on the analysis and interpretation of the end result of financial reporting and financial statements.

A History of Corporate Financial Reporting provides an understanding of the procedures and practices which constitute corporate financial reporting in Britain, at different points of time, and how and why those practices changed and became what they are now. Its particular focus is the external financial reporting practices of joint stock companies. This is worth knowing about given the widely held view that Britain (i) pioneered modern financial reporting, and (ii) played a primary role in the development of both capital markets and professional accountancy. The book makes use of a principal and agent framework to study accounting’s past, but one where the failure of managers always to supply the information that users’ desire is given full recognition. It is shown that corporate financial reporting did not develop into its current state in a straightforward and orderly fashion. Each era produces different environmental conditions and imposes new demands on accounting. A proper understanding of accounting developments therefore requires a careful examination of the interrelationship between accountants and accounting techniques on the one hand and, on the other, the social and economic context within which changes took place. The book’s corporate coverage starts with the legendary East India Company, created in 1600, and continues through the heyday of the statutory trading companies founded to build Britain’s canals (commencing in the 1770s) and railways (commencing c.1829) to focus, principally, on the limited liability company fashioned by the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 and the Limited Liability Act 1855. The story terminates in 2005 when listed companies were required to prepare their consolidated accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, thus signalling the effective end of British accounting.