Issues Surrounding the Conceptual Framework Project

Accounting is not an exact science; every company and situation is unique. For over fifty years, the accounting profession has been trying to formulate a conceptual framework which would serve as a constitution for accounting, yet still leave room for uniqueness. This is not an easy task. In order for a constitution to be effective, basic issues must be resolved. I shall address some of the basic issues evolving around the establishment of a conceptual framework; issues like who is the user of financial information? What information does the user need? What is material? How rigid should accounting standards be? Should there be accounting standards? Should forecasts be published? I shall not venture to present solutions, as greater accountants than I have tried to accomplish this feat and have not succeeded. Merely recognizing that there are basic issues to be resolved before any rigid accounting standards can be implemented, is the goal of this thesis