Margins of Error in Accounting
Palgrave Macmillan | 2009-02-15 | ISBN: 0230219918 | 200 pages | PDF | 1.5 MB
Margins of Error in Accounting covers the main reasons why published company accounts cannot be completely 'accurate' and the likely extent of the resulting errors. Separate chapters cover: the 'interim-ness' of accounts; the use of current value estimates; the cumulative effect of inflation on money as the unit of account.

This original and readable book by an acknowledged expert discusses four main reasons why published company accounts cannot be completely 'accurate': the 'interim-ness' of annual accounts; the growing use of hypothetical current value estimates; the impact of cumulative inflation on financial statements using money as the unit of account; and creative accounting by managers. The book attempts to quantify the extent of these errors wherever possible - some of them are very large indeed. There is also a chapter on spurious accuracy, why it persists and why it matters.