The Future of Tax Accounting in North Vancouver: What to Expect

City in British Columbia, Canada

This article is about the City of North Vancouver. For the adjacent District of North Vancouver, see North Vancouver (district municipality). For other uses, see North Vancouver.

 

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North Vancouver
City
The Corporation of the City of North Vancouver
Nickname:  North Van
Location of the City of North Vancouver in Metro Vancouver
Coordinates: 49°19′N 123°4′W / 49.317°N 123.067°W / 49.317; -123.067
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional district	Metro Vancouver
Incorporated	May 13, 1907[1]
Seat	North Vancouver City Hall
Government [2]
• Type	Mayor-council government
• Mayor	Linda Buchanan
• Council	List of councillors Holly Back Don Bell Angela Girard Tina Hu Jessica McIlroy Tony Valente
• MP	Jonathan Wilkinson (Liberal)
• MLA	Bowinn Ma (BC NDP)
Area [3]
• Land	11.83 km2 (4.57 sq mi)
Elevation	80 m (260 ft)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	58,120
• Estimate  (2023)[4]	64,847
• Density	4,913.0/km2 (12,725/sq mi)
Demonym	North Vancouverite
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Forward sortation area	V7G - V7R
Area codes	604, 778, 236, 672
Website	cnv.org

The City of North Vancouver is a municipality city on the North Shore of the Burrard Inlet, in British Columbia, Canada. Anchored by the downtown town centre of Lonsdale, with which its urban core largely synonymous, it consists of the smallest and most urbanized of the communities situated north of the city of Vancouver, and is part of the Metro Vancouver regional district, though it has significant industry of its own – including shipping, chemical production, and film production. The city is served by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, British Columbia Ambulance Service, and the North Vancouver City Fire Department.

In 1863, T.W. Graham and George Scrimgeour pre-empted 150 acres of Crown land and established Pioneer Mills, the first sawmill at the site Moodyville.^[5][6] This was a key milestone in the European settlement and industrial development in what would become North Vancouver. The next year, J.O. Smith bought the struggling business, renamed it Burrard Inlet Mills and sent out the first international cargo.^[6] Sewell Prescott Moody and two partners bought out the near-bankrupt undertaking cheaply in January 1865, changed the name to Burrard Inlet Lumber Mills and made it a success. Early in 1865 it was purchased by Sewell Prescott Moody and became the centre of a thriving community, Moodyville, with a hotel and the Inlet's first school.^[5][7]

In 1866 Moody took on new partners George Dietz (1830-84) and Hugh Nelson (1830-93). After a fire, he rebuilt the second mill as a 330-foot (100 m) structure capable of producing 100,000 board feet (236 m³) of lumber per day. The complex was named the Moodyville Sawmill Company by the early 1870s.^[6]

In the 1880s, Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale and a relation James Pemberton Fell, made substantial investments through their company, Lonsdale Estates, and in 1882 he financed the Moodyville investments. Several locations in the North Vancouver area are named after Lonsdale and his family.^[8]

Various settlers acquired Crown grants during this period, including Frederick Howson, Thomas A. Strong, John Linn (the namesake of Lynn Valley) and Hugh Burr.^[5]

Following Vancouver's devastating fire in 1886, regional infrastructure expanded with the construction of the Vancouver Water Works dam on the Capilano River in 1888^[9] and the formation of the Burrard Inlet Bridge and Tunnel Company in 1890 to provide direct south shore access.^[5]

On August 29, 1891, the District of North Vancouver was officially incorporated, spanning from Indian Arm to Howe Sound, with C.J. Phibbs elected as the first Reeve.^[7]

Not long after the District of North Vancouver was formed, an early land developer and second reeve of the new council, James Cooper Keith, personally underwrote a loan^[10] to commence construction of a road which undulated from West Vancouver to Deep Cove amid the slashed sidehills, swamps, and burnt stumps. The road, sometimes under different names and not always contiguous, is still one of the most important east-west thoroughfare carrying traffic across the North Shore.

Development was slow at the outset. The population of the district in the 1901 census was only 365 people.^[10] Keith joined Edwin Mahon and together they controlled North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company. Soon the pace of development around the foot of Lonsdale began to pick up. The first school was opened in 1902. The district was able to build a municipal hall in 1903 and actually have meetings in North Vancouver (instead of in Vancouver where most of the landowners lived).^[5] The first bank and first newspaper arrived in 1905. In 1906 the BC Electric Railway Company opened up a street car line that extended from the ferry wharf up Lonsdale to 12th Street. By 1911 the streetcar system extended west to the Capilano River and east to Lynn Valley.^{[citation needed]}

The owners of businesses who operated on Lonsdale, as part of an initiative led by Keith and Mahon, brought a petition to the district council in 1905, calling for a new, compact city to be carved out of the unwieldy district.^{[citation needed]}

During the ensuing two years there was much and sometimes heated debate. Some thought the new city should have a new name such as Northport, Hillmont or Parkhill. Burrard became the favourite of the new names but majority view was that North Vancouver remain in order to remain associated with the rising credibility of Vancouver in financial markets and as a place to attract immigrants.^[11]

Some thought the boundary of the new city should reflect geography and extend from Lynn Creek or Seymour River west to the Capilano River and extend three miles up the mountainside.^{[citation needed]} That the boundary of the city which came into existence in 1907 just happened to match that of the lands owned by the North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company and Lonsdale Estate was no accident. Since the motivation for creating the city was to reserve local tax revenue for the work of putting in services for the property owned by the major developers, there was little reason to take on any of the burden beyond the extent of their holdings.^{[citation needed]}

Residents in west part of the District of North Vancouver now had less reason to be connected with what remained and they petitioned to create the District of West Vancouver (the west part of the North Shore, not the west side of Vancouver) in 1912.^{[citation needed]} The eastern boundary of that new municipality is for the most part the Capilano River and a community that is easily distinguished from the two North Vancouvers has since developed.

The City of North Vancouver continued to grow around the foot of Lonsdale Avenue. Serviced by the North Vancouver Ferries, it proved a popular area. Commuters used the ferries to work in Vancouver. Street cars and early land speculation, spurred interest in the area. Streets, city blocks and houses were slowly built around lower Lonsdale. Wallace Shipyards, and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway provided an industrial base, although, the late arrival of the Second Narrows railway bridge in 1925 controlled development.

The Depression again bankrupted the city, while the Second World War turned North Vancouver into the Clydeside of Canada with a large shipbuilding program.^[12] Housing the shipyard workers provided a new building boom, which continued on through the post-war years. By that time, North Vancouver became a popular housing area.

The City of North Vancouver is separated from Vancouver by the Burrard Inlet, and it is surrounded on three sides by the District of North Vancouver. The city has much in common with the district and with West Vancouver; together, the three are commonly referred to as the North Shore.

The City of North Vancouver is relatively densely populated with a number of residential high-rise buildings in the Central Lonsdale and Lower Lonsdale areas.

The North Shore mountains have many drainages: Capilano River, MacKay, Mosquito, and Lynn Creeks, and Seymour River.

North Vancouver has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) with cool, rainy winters and dry, warm summers.

The area around lower Lonsdale Avenue features several open community spaces, including Waterfront Park, Lonsdale Quay, Ship Builders Square and the Burrard Dry Dock Pier.

Other sites of interest in the city include:^[14][15][16]

• Centennial Theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Avenue
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, a local heritage site
• The Museum and Archives of North Vancouver
• The Polygon Gallery
• Presentation House Theatre, 333 Chesterfield Avenue
• St. Edmund's Church, 535 Mahon Avenue, a local heritage site
• Trans Canada Trail Pavilion, Waterfront Park
• The Shipyards, near Lonsdale Quay, which includes Ship Builders Square and the Burrard Dry Dock Pier, on the site of the old Wallace Shipyard
• Lonsdale Quay Market, easily accessible from the Seabus. The Quay has a view of Vancouver's skyline and is locally owned and operated.

The City of North Vancouver is connected to Vancouver by two highway bridges (the Lions Gate Bridge and the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing) and by a passenger ferry, the SeaBus. That system and the bus system in North Vancouver is operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company, an operating company of TransLink. The hub of the bus system is Lonsdale Quay, the location of the SeaBus terminal. Currently, there is no rail transit service on the North Shore.

The main street in the city is Lonsdale Avenue, which begins at Lonsdale Quay and goes north to 29th Street, where it continues in the District of North Vancouver, ending at Rockland Road.

Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway (often referred to as the "Upper Levels Highway") passes through the northern portion of the city. It is a freeway for its entire length within the City of North Vancouver. There are six interchanges on Highway 1 within the City of North Vancouver:

• Main Street/Dollarton Highway (Exit 23)
• Mountain Highway and Mt Seymour Parkway (Exit 21/22)
• Lynn Valley Road (Exit 19)
• Lonsdale Avenue (Exit 18)
• Westview Drive (Exit 17)
• Capilano Road (Exit 14)

Public schools are managed by the North Vancouver School District, which operates 8 high schools and 30 elementary schools shared by the city and the District of North Vancouver.

The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique operates one Francophone school in that city: école André-Piolat, which has both primary and secondary levels.^[17]

There are also several independent private elementary and high schools in the area, including Bodwell High School and Lions Gate Christian Academy.

Post-secondary education is available at Capilano University in the district, as well as at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia in neighbouring communities.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, North Vancouver had a population of 58,120 living in 27,293 of its 29,021 total private dwellings, a change of 9.9% from its 2016 population of 52,898. With a land area of 11.83 km² (4.57 sq mi), it had a population density of 4,912.9/km² (12,724.4/sq mi) in 2021.^[3]

As of the 2011 census, the median age was 41.2 years old, which is a bit higher than the national median age at 40.6 years old. There are 24,206 private dwellings with an occupancy rate of 94.1%. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the median value of a dwelling in North Vancouver is $599,985 which is significantly higher than the national average at $280,552. The median household income (after-taxes) in North Vancouver is $52,794, a bit lower than the national average at $54,089.

North Vancouver has one of the highest Middle Eastern^[a] population ratios for any Canadian city at 11.3% as of 2021, with the vast majority being Persian.^[18]

• Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Mother languages as reported by each person:

3.1% of North Vancouver residents listed both English and a non-official language as mother tongues.

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in North Vancouver included:^[18]

• Irreligion (29,580 persons or 51.4%)
• Christianity (20,915 persons or 36.4%)
• Islam (4,245 persons or 7.4%)
• Sikhism (530 persons or 0.9%)
• Buddhism (470 persons or 0.8%)
• Judaism (385 persons or 0.7%)
• Hinduism (340 persons or 0.6%)
• Indigenous Spirituality (70 persons or 0.1%)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Vancouver (city).

• Official website
• North Vancouver travel guide from Wikivoyage

Part of a series on
Accounting
Constant purchasing power Historical cost Management Tax
Major types Audit Budget Cost Forensic Financial Fund Governmental Management Social Tax
Key concepts Accounting period Accrual Constant purchasing power Economic entity Fair value Going concern Historical cost Matching principle Materiality Revenue recognition Unit of account
Selected accounts Assets Cash Cost of goods sold Depreciation / Amortization (business) Equity Expenses Goodwill Liabilities Profit Revenue
Accounting standards Generally-accepted principles Generally-accepted auditing standards Convergence International Financial Reporting Standards International Standards on Auditing Management Accounting Principles
Financial statements Annual report Balance sheet Cash-flow Equity Income Management discussion Financial statement analysis
Bookkeeping Bank reconciliation Debits and credits Double-entry system FIFO and LIFO Journal Ledger / General ledger Trial balance
Auditing Financial Internal Firms Report Sarbanes–Oxley Act
People and organizations Accountants Accounting organizations Luca Pacioli
Development History Research Positive accounting Sarbanes–Oxley Act
Misconduct Creative Earnings management Error account Hollywood Off-balance-sheet Two sets of books

Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations.^[1][2] Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators.^[3] Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used interchangeably.^[4]

Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting.^[5] Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers.^[6] Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management to enhance business operations.^[1][6] The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system.^[7] Accounting information systems are designed to support accounting functions and related activities.

Accounting has existed in various forms and levels of sophistication throughout human history. The double-entry accounting system in use today was developed in medieval Europe, particularly in Venice, and is usually attributed to the Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli.^[8] Today, accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters, accounting firms and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audited by accounting firms,^[9] and are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).^[6] GAAP is set by various standard-setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States^[1] and the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, "all major economies" have plans to converge towards or adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).^[10][11]

Accounting is thousands of years old and can be traced to ancient civilizations.^[12][13][14] One early development of accounting dates back to ancient Mesopotamia and is closely related to developments in writing, counting and money;^[12] there is also evidence of early forms of bookkeeping in ancient Iran,^[15][16] and early auditing systems by the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians.^[13] By the time of Emperor Augustus, the Roman government had access to detailed financial information.^[17]

Many concepts related to today's accounting seem to be initiated in medieval's Middle East. For example, Jewish communities used double-entry bookkeeping in the early-medieval period^[18][19] and Muslim societies, at least since the 10th century also used many modern accounting concepts.^[20]

The spread of the use of Arabic numerals, instead of the Roman numbers historically used in Europe, increased efficiency of accounting procedures among Mediterranean merchants,^[21] who further refined accounting in medieval Europe.^[22] With the development of joint-stock companies, accounting split into financial accounting and management accounting.

The first published work on a double-entry bookkeeping system was the Summa de arithmetica, published in Italy in 1494 by Luca Pacioli (the "Father of Accounting").^[23][24] Accounting began to transition into an organized profession in the 19th century,^[25][26] with local professional bodies in England merging to form the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1880.^[27]

Both the words "accounting" and "accountancy" were in use in Great Britain by the mid-1800s and are derived from the words accompting and accountantship used in the 18th century.^[28] In Middle English (used roughly between the 12th and the late 15th century), the verb "to account" had the form accounten, which was derived from the Old French word aconter,^[29] which is in turn related to the Vulgar Latin word computare, meaning "to reckon". The base of computare is putare, which "variously meant to prune, to purify, to correct an account, hence, to count or calculate, as well as to think".^[29]

The word "accountant" is derived from the French word compter, which is also derived from the Italian and Latin word computare. The word was formerly written in English as "accomptant", but in process of time the word, which was always pronounced by dropping the "p", became gradually changed both in pronunciation and in orthography to its present form.^[30]

Accounting has variously been defined as the keeping or preparation of the financial records of transactions of the firm, the analysis, verification and reporting of such records and "the principles and procedures of accounting"; it also refers to the job of being an accountant.^[31][32][33]

Accountancy refers to the occupation or profession of an accountant,^[34][35][36] particularly in British English.^[31][32]

Accounting has several subfields or subject areas, including financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxation and accounting information systems.^[5]

Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information to external users of the information, such as investors, potential investors and creditors. It calculates and records business transactions and prepares financial statements for the external users in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).^[6] GAAP, in turn, arises from the wide agreement between accounting theory and practice, and changes over time to meet the needs of decision-makers.^[1]

Financial accounting produces past-oriented reports—for example financial statements are often published six to ten months after the end of the accounting period—on an annual or quarterly basis, generally about the organization as a whole.^[6]

Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information that can help managers in making decisions to fulfill the goals of an organization. In management accounting, internal measures and reports are based on cost–benefit analysis, and are not required to follow the generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP).^[6] In 2014 CIMA created the Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAPs). The result of research from across 20 countries in five continents, the principles aim to guide best practice in the discipline.^[37]

Management accounting produces past-oriented reports with time spans that vary widely, but it also encompasses future-oriented reports such as budgets. Management accounting reports often include financial and non financial information, and may, for example, focus on specific products and departments.^[6]

Intercompany accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information between separate entities that are related, such as a parent company and its subsidiary companies. Intercompany accounting concerns record keeping of transactions between companies that have common ownership such as a parent company and a partially or wholly owned subsidiary. Intercompany transactions are also recorded in accounting when business is transacted between companies with a common parent company (subsidiaries).^[38][39]

Auditing is the verification of assertions made by others regarding a payoff,^[40] and in the context of accounting it is the "unbiased examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an organization".^[41] Audit is a professional service that is systematic and conventional.^[42]

An audit of financial statements aims to express or disclaim an independent opinion on the financial statements. The auditor expresses an independent opinion on the fairness with which the financial statements presents the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of an entity, in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and "in all material respects". An auditor is also required to identify circumstances in which the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have not been consistently observed.^[43]

An accounting information system is a part of an organization's information system used for processing accounting data.^[44] Many corporations use artificial intelligence-based information systems. The banking and finance industry uses AI in fraud detection. The retail industry uses AI for customer services. AI is also used in the cybersecurity industry. It involves computer hardware and software systems using statistics and modeling.^[45]

Many accounting practices have been simplified with the help of accounting computer-based software. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is commonly used for a large organisation and it provides a comprehensive, centralized, integrated source of information that companies can use to manage all major business processes, from purchasing to manufacturing to human resources. These systems can be cloud based and available on demand via application or browser, or available as software installed on specific computers or local servers, often referred to as on-premise.

Tax accounting in the United States concentrates on the preparation, analysis and presentation of tax payments and tax returns. The U.S. tax system requires the use of specialised accounting principles for tax purposes which can differ from the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for financial reporting.^[46] U.S. tax law covers four basic forms of business ownership: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and limited liability company. Corporate and personal income are taxed at different rates, both varying according to income levels and including varying marginal rates (taxed on each additional dollar of income) and average rates (set as a percentage of overall income).^[46]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Forensic accounting is a specialty practice area of accounting that describes engagements that result from actual or anticipated disputes or litigation.^[47] "Forensic" means "suitable for use in a court of law", and it is to that standard and potential outcome that forensic accountants generally have to work.

Political campaign accounting deals with the development and implementation of financial systems and the accounting of financial transactions in compliance with laws governing political campaign operations. This branch of accounting was first formally introduced in the March 1976 issue of The Journal of Accountancy.^[48]

Professional accounting bodies include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the other 179 members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC),^[49] including Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), CPA Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Some countries have a single professional accounting body and, in some other countries, professional bodies for subfields of the accounting professions also exist, for example the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the UK and Institute of management accountants in the United States.^[50] Many of these professional bodies offer education and training including qualification and administration for various accounting designations, such as certified public accountant (AICPA) and chartered accountant.^[51][52]

Depending on its size, a company may be legally required to have their financial statements audited by a qualified auditor, and audits are usually carried out by accounting firms.^[9]

Accounting firms grew in the United States and Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and through several mergers there were large international accounting firms by the mid-twentieth century. Further large mergers in the late twentieth century led to the dominance of the auditing market by the "Big Five" accounting firms: Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.^[53] The demise of Arthur Andersen following the Enron scandal reduced the Big Five to the Big Four.^[54]

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are accounting standards issued by national regulatory bodies. In addition, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issues the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implemented by 147 countries.^[1] Standards for international audit and assurance, ethics, education, and public sector accounting are all set by independent standard settings boards supported by IFAC. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board sets international standards for auditing, assurance, and quality control; the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA)^[55] sets the internationally appropriate principles-based Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants; the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) sets professional accounting education standards;^[56] and International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) sets accrual-based international public sector accounting standards.^[57][4]

Organizations in individual countries may issue accounting standards unique to the countries. For example, in Australia, the Australian Accounting Standards Board manages the issuance of the accounting standards in line with IFRS. In the United States the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issues the Statements of Financial Accounting Standards, which form the basis of US GAAP,^[1] and in the United Kingdom the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) sets accounting standards.^[58] However, as of 2012 "all major economies" have plans to converge towards or adopt the IFRS.^[10]

A bachelor's degree or a master's degree in accounting or a related field is required for most accountant and auditor job positions, and some employers prefer applicants with advanced qualifications.^[59] A degree in accounting may also be required for, or may be used to fulfill the requirements for, membership to professional accounting bodies. For example, the education during an accounting degree can be used to fulfill the American Institute of CPA's (AICPA) 150 semester hour requirement,^[60] and associate membership with the Certified Public Accountants Association of the UK is available after gaining a degree in finance or accounting.^[61]

A doctorate is required in order to pursue a career in accounting academia, for example, to work as a university professor in accounting.^[62][63] The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) are the most popular degrees. The PhD is the most common degree for those wishing to pursue a career in academia, while DBA programs generally focus on equipping business executives for business or public careers requiring research skills and qualifications.^[62]

Professional accounting qualifications include the chartered accountant designations and other qualifications including certificates and diplomas.^[64] In Scotland, chartered accountants of ICAS undergo Continuous Professional Development and abide by the ICAS code of ethics.^[65] In England and Wales, chartered accountants of the ICAEW undergo annual training, and are bound by the ICAEW's code of ethics and subject to its disciplinary procedures.^[66]

In the United States, the requirements for joining the AICPA as a Certified Public Accountant are set by the Board of Accountancy of each state, and members agree to abide by the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct and Bylaws.

The ACCA is the largest global accountancy body with over 320,000 members, and the organisation provides an 'IFRS stream' and a 'UK stream'. Students must pass a total of 14 exams, which are arranged across three levels.^[67]

Accounting research is research in the effects of economic events on the process of accounting, the effects of reported information on economic events, and the roles of accounting in organizations and society.^[68][69] It encompasses a broad range of research areas including financial accounting, management accounting, auditing and taxation.^[70]

Accounting research is carried out both by academic researchers and practicing accountants. Methodologies in academic accounting research include archival research, which examines "objective data collected from repositories"; experimental research, which examines data "the researcher gathered by administering treatments to subjects"; analytical research, which is "based on the act of formally modeling theories or substantiating ideas in mathematical terms"; interpretive research, which emphasizes the role of language, interpretation and understanding in accounting practice, "highlighting the symbolic structures and taken-for-granted themes which pattern the world in distinct ways"; critical research, which emphasizes the role of power and conflict in accounting practice; case studies; computer simulation; and field research.^[71][72]

Empirical studies document that leading accounting journals publish in total fewer research articles than comparable journals in economics and other business disciplines,^[73] and consequently, accounting scholars^[74] are relatively less successful in academic publishing than their business school peers.^[75] Due to different publication rates between accounting and other business disciplines, a recent study based on academic author rankings concludes that the competitive value of a single publication in a top-ranked journal is highest in accounting and lowest in marketing.^[76]

The year 2001 witnessed a series of financial information frauds involving Enron, auditing firm Arthur Andersen, the telecommunications company WorldCom, Qwest and Sunbeam, among other well-known corporations. These problems highlighted the need to review the effectiveness of accounting standards, auditing regulations and corporate governance principles. In some cases, management manipulated the figures shown in financial reports to indicate a better economic performance. In others, tax and regulatory incentives encouraged over-leveraging of companies and decisions to bear extraordinary and unjustified risk.^[77]

The Enron scandal deeply influenced the development of new regulations to improve the reliability of financial reporting, and increased public awareness about the importance of having accounting standards that show the financial reality of companies and the objectivity and independence of auditing firms.^[77]

In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history, the Enron scandal undoubtedly is the biggest audit failure^[78] causing the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which at the time was one of the five largest accounting firms in the world. After a series of revelations involving irregular accounting procedures conducted throughout the 1990s, Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2001.^[79]

One consequence of these events was the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act in the United States in 2002, as a result of the first admissions of fraudulent behavior made by Enron. The act significantly raises criminal penalties for securities fraud, for destroying, altering or fabricating records in federal investigations or any scheme or attempt to defraud shareholders.^[80]

Accounting fraud is an intentional misstatement or omission in the accounting records by management or employees which involves the use of deception. It is a criminal act and a breach of civil tort. It may involve collusion with third parties.^[81]

An accounting error is an unintentional misstatement or omission in the accounting records, for example misinterpretation of facts, mistakes in processing data, or oversights leading to incorrect estimates.^[81] Acts leading to accounting errors are not criminal but may breach civil law, for example, the tort of negligence.

The primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud and errors rests with the entity's management.^[81]

• Accounting information system
• Accounting records
• Outline of accounting

• Library resources in your library and in other libraries about accounting
• Operations Research in Accounting on the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences website