Chambers and Accounting Communication.

This article discusses the contributions of Australian accountant Raymond John Chambers to accounting communication. Arguably, accounting is as much about communication as it is to do with measurement. No matter how effective the process of accounting quantification, its resultant data will be less than useful unless they are communicated adequately. Hence, Chambers has recognized these points consistently and continuously in his writings, typically identifying accounting as a form of communication between organizational entities and interested parties and accounting communication as a basis for accounting theory. Indeed, he has linked accounting positively with communication theory. Chambers reveals his thinking on the communication aspect of accounting, that it is concerned with the transmission of messages about economic events and effects. As well, accounting can be seen as a function concerned with transmitting a series of signals about economic events and effects with the intention of modifying the behavior of their recipients. This contrasts with the traditional view of accounting as a series of procedural techniques designed to compute required quantifications of economic transactions and it reveals the need to educate accountants in the nature of communication systems.