Overview

The measurement methods used in financial accounting affect our perception of the value and performance of businesses by determining the amount of reported profit or loss and the resources of the business. Thus, measurement affects shareholders and other stakeholders in the business. It has even been suggested that the world financial crisis of 2007–2010 was partly due to the mis-measurement of financial instruments. In this book, Geoffrey Whittington provides a unique survey of the theory and practice of measurement in financial accounts. It seeks to define and illustrate alternative methods, using simple numerical examples, and to analyse their theoretical properties. Also, it summarises extensive empirical evidence and the historical development of ideas and practice. It is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying financial accounting, as well as practitioners and policy-makers concerned with accounting standards.

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'A tour de force. Professor Whittington, Britain's premier accounting academic, has produced a masterpiece. Having been an active participant through both the 'Golden Age' of accounting theory and the inflation accounting controversy and a standard setter for many years thereafter, he looks back on the twentieth-century theories of income measurement, efforts to implement aspects of them and the effect (replete with references) of the huge volume of research on the direction of accounting. Written in his easy style, this book will become a classic - essential reading for teachers, theorists, researchers and accounting policy makers.' Sir David Tweedie, Chairman, International Valuation Standards Council 'Having worked as a distinguished academic and a leading standard-setter for many years, Whittington has an understanding second to none of the complex and important problems in accounting measurement. In this book he deploys impressive communication skills to make that understanding accessible to a wide readership. An invaluable guide to a subject which is critical to many major economic decisions, but widely misunderstood.' Geoff Meeks, University of Cambridge

Author Information

Geoffrey Whittington is a Senior Research Associate of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Judge Business School, Cambridge and a founding member of the International Accounting Standards Board, London (2001–6). He is the author of numerous publications and essays on financial accounting, including The Elements of Accounting (Cambridge, 1992) and The Debate on Inflation Accounting with David Tweedie (Cambridge, 1984).

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