The subject matters of accounting

This chapter aims to entice scientists and philosophers to make contributions to accounting thought by examining the fascinating problems that are the direct result of the unique subject matters of accounting. Instead of reporting the amount paid, accountants usually report a calculated amount. The emphasis on social science provides the first clue as to the subject matter of accounting theory: it is the study of the behaviour of people, often people who are accountants or managers making accounting decisions. The predominant subject matter currently being studied by accountant-researchers is the behaviour of accountant-practitioners, broadly conceived to include auditors and managers when they are making accounting decisions, and often called ‘positive accounting theory’ as well as ‘social-recorder’, both of which are offsprings of the old ‘inductivist’ theories. C. Lyas provides an illustration of both the multiple meanings of the term in accounting and how non-accountants usually interpret it.