One of my partners at Financial Reporting Advisors is fond of saying about accounting, “The questions never change.” He’s been watching accounting policy for a lot longer than I have, but even in my relatively brief time, I’ve seen enough to know he’s right.
In a 2006 speech about the issue of judgment in accounting, I used quotes on the topic from SEC chief accountants going back to the 1950s. Of course, issues like fair value versus historical cost, principles versus rules, and off-balance sheet accounting have been kicked around for decades. And in those decades, we’ve generally tried multiple ...