成本会计道德责任与会计准则外文文献翻译.docx

成本会计道德责任与会计准则外文文献翻译.docx

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成本会计道德责任与会计准则外文文献翻译

文献出处:

PashangH,ÖsterlundU,JohanssonK.CostAccounting,EthicalAccountability,andAccountingPrinciples[J].JournalofModernAccountingandAuditing,2014,10

（1）:

20-31.

原文

CostAccounting,EthicalAccountability,andAccountingPrinciples

HosseinPashang,UrbanÖsterlund,KjellJohansson

UniversityofBorås,Borås,Sweden

Thisessayexplainswhycostaccounting,ethicalaccountability,andaccountingprinciplesareinterrelatedconcepts.Duringthepasttwodecades,therelationshipbetweenaccountingsystemsanddischargeofaccountabilityhasincreasinglydrawntheattentionofresearchers.However,researchershaveshownamarginalinterestintheinclusionandexaminationofthethemeofcostaccounting,andinparticular,nointeresthasbeenorientedtoexplorethepotentialroleofcostaccountinginservingpresentationofthetrustfulcostinformationasregardsthedischargeofaccountability.Inthisessay,wewillreasonthatthetraditionaldiscourseofcostaccountingisfundamentallydifferentfromthemanagerialdiscourseofcostaccounting.Thetraditionalcostaccountingisbuiltupontheethical,legal,professional,andprinciple-baseddiscourses.Byexploringthedifferencesbetweenthetwocostaccountingdiscourses,thisessaywillreducetheeffectofcurrentskepticalviewswithwhichqualityofouracademiceducation,relevanceofourresearch,andourunderstandingofthepotentialroleofcostaccountinginservingtheprovisionandpresentationoftrustfulinformationhavebeenseriouslyundermined.

Keywords:

accountabilitydeficit,principleofinvestedcost,ethicalaccountability

PerspectivesandProblemsoftheEssay

Thisessayisconcernedwithasetofproblemsrelatedtotheaccountabilityoftheaccountingcommunicationoftheinvestedcosts.Firmsinvestincertainareas,andinmanyoccasions,avoidinvestinginareaswhichmaybevitalforthesurvivalofbusinesslifeinsociety.Theaccountingsystemsofthefirmsdonotcommunicatetheinvestedcostsanddonotinformtheusersofaccountsaboutthecircumstancesinwhichcostinvestmentswereavoided.Theaccountabilitygapbetweenfirms’investmentsofresourcesandcommunicationoftheinvestedresourcesbycostaccountingiswidening.Weviewthisgapasaseriousaccountabilitydeficitandtrytomakeasystematicassessmentoftheconceptualcostcategoriesbywhichaccountabilityoftheinvestedcostscanbeimproved.

Tothepointisthenotionthatlanguageofcostaccountingisconsideredbeingcentralintheestablishmentofaccountabilityforinvestments.Theusersofaccountsneedinformationabouttheinvestedresourcesandthegiversofaccountsareaccountabletoinformtheusersofthenatureoftheirinvestments.Byreflectingonthesymboliccapabilityofcostaccounting,wewillattempttoimprovecosting-basedaccountabilitycommunication.

Inthisessay,weareconcernedwiththeanalysisofcostaccountingasanindependentsubjectthatcanservecommunicationoftheethicalaccountabilityinamoretrustfulway.Wewillarguethatacademicresearchinterestfordecision-making-basedmodelsofcoststogetherwiththewide-rangingcriticsofthetechnicalaspectsofcostaccounting（Kaplan,1984,1988）hadtheconsequenceofneglectingtheinstitutional,ethical,andpotentialroleofcostaccountingintheprovisionsofaccountsuponthefirms’vitalevents.Theascendanceofbehavioralcostsmodels,suchasactivity-basedcosting（ABC）asthedominantparadigm,hasblurredourabilitytojudgethattraditionalcostaccountingcanbeindependentlyappliedtosolveaccountabilitydeficitsattachedtothecurrentfieldofaccountingcommunication.

Wetrytogettogripswithaccountabilitydeficitsbyaddressingthreemainquestions.Thefirstquestionisofaconceptualnature.Wewillarguethatmisunderstandingoftheconceptualandtechnicalfeaturesofcostaccountingisoneoftheproblemsthatcausedaccountabilitydeficits.Costaccountingisguidedbyaccountingprinciplesandthatparadigmofcostaccountingisnotdetachedfromtheparadigmoffinancialaccounting.Fewpeoplecandisputethenotionthatcostaccountingisanexpansionoffinancialaccounting（Littleton,1958）.Thetaskoffinancialaccountingissaidtoprovideafewcategoriesoftheaggregateddataupontheentities’achievements.Thetaskofcostaccountingisdisaggregationofthefinancialaccountingdatawiththepurposeofincreasingtheinformativecontentofaccountingcommunication.Theconceptualperspectivewhichwewilldevelopinthefollowingpagesisthusembarkeduponawiderviewoftheroleofcostaccountingbeyonditstraditionalfunction.Wearegoingtoarguethatthedetailingmeasuresofcostaccountingdatasignificantlyincreasetheusefulnessofaccountinginformation.

Thesecondquestionisrelatedtothenotionofaccountabilitydeficits.Thosewhoinvestcostsandputtousethefirmsresourcesarealsoaccountableforreportinghowtheseresourcesareused.Costaccountingandcostaccountabilityarenotseparableandtheseparationandmisconceptionofthetwoarecausesoftheaccountabilitydeficits.Relevanttothepoints,whichwillbegraduallydevelopedinthisessay,isthenotionthataccountingoftheinvestedcostsisthemostinformativeandchallengingsubjectofconsideration.Understandingofthegapbetweenfirms’investedcostsandcommunicationoftheinvestedcostsisessentialfortheunderstandingofaccountabilitydeficits.Theconceptofaccountabilitydeficits,evokedinthisessay,isjudgedonthebasisofempiricalperceptionsaswellastheoreticalpropositions.Ontheoneside,costinformationcanrevealfundamentalcoresofthefirms’accountabilityasregardsstrategicandoperationaldecisions.Ontheotherside,firmsshowapersistenttendencytosuppresscostaccountingwithregardtotheproblemofproducingfullinformationabouttheinvestedcosts.

Thethirdquestionisofevaluativeoranalyticaltype.Whatisthepotentialcapacityofcostaccountingtoserveabroaderrequirementwithregardtoaccountabilityexplanation?

Ashasbeenmentioned,costaccountingcanprovideusefulinformationaboutthedischargeofaccountability.Tobemoreconcreteonthispoint,accountingoftheinvestedcosts,forexample,onproducts/services,onassets,onpersonnel,oncontroltools,oneducation,onsustainabilityandsocialactivities,etc.,providesaninterpretiveschemefortheusersofaccountingtoassessmanagementaccountability.

Thus,thisessaypursuestoprovidesomereasonsandaspirationsfortheunderstandingofcostaccountingasthemainsubjectofaccountingscholarship.Oneobjectiveistobringforwardthepotentialroleandusefulnessofcostaccountinginservingethicalaccountability.Anotherobjectiveistocontributewiththeconsiderationthatparadigmofcostaccountingisessentiallyindependentandconceptuallydifferentfromtheparadigmofbehavioralcostmodels.

Tothepointisthenotionthattheoverallpurposeofthisessayshouldnotbesearchedinthedescriptionsoftheadvantagesofthetraditionalcostaccounting.Theadvantagesofcostaccounting,inourview,shouldbedrawnfromitsbroaderpotentialroles,oritssymboliccapacity,insolvingthecurrentproblemofaccountabilitydeficits.Theprincipalfocusofthisessayisthustohighlightthishiddenandoftenpurposelysuppressedpotential.

Thisessayisarrangedinfivesections.Itbeginswithareviewofliteratureandfollowswiththeparadigmaticdefinitionofcostaccountingwithanemphasisonitsprofessionalandobjectivitynature.Inthethirdsection,thelegalconnotationofcostaccountingwillbehighlighted.Intheforthsection,thehistoryoftheoriginofcostaccountingwillbepresented.Inthefinalsections,thepotentialroleofcostaccountinginservingethicalaccountabilitywillbebroughtforward.Theessaysuggeststhreenewprinciplesthatcanaidtheguidanceofcostaccountingtowardstheethicalaccountability.

LiteratureReview

Intextbooksofbusinesseducation,costaccountingisalmostaneglectedtopic（Drury,2007;Horngren,Foster,&Datar,1994;Anderson,Needles,&Caldwell,1996）.Thedominantthemeofeducationismanagerialmodelsofcostswithanexclusivefocusondecision-makingandcontrol.TheT-accountperspectiveofcostaccountingistotallyeliminatedfromthetextbooks,whichmeansthatcostinformationisnotdisclosedforthepurposeofindependentexaminations.Theadoptedmanagerialemphasisprovideslimitedspaceforthedetailingofcostaccountingandnospaceforthesignificanceofthetopicwithregardtoaccountabilitycommunication.Theaspirationfortheteachingofmanagerialemphasisandbehavioralmodelingofcosts,however,turnedintothenegligenceoftheimportantthemeofcostaccounting.Infact,themanagerialemphasishaslefttheeducationalvalueofcostaccountinginshambles.Studentshadlimitedpossibilitiestolearnandinquireintothesubjectofcostaccounting,itsorigin,itslegalconnotation,anditspotentialroleinarrangementofaccountability.

Insomeofthemanagementaccountingtextbooks,costaccountingappearsasacoherentparadigmof“managerialaccounting”.Suchinterpretationwasboostedbytheso-calledgurusofthecostaccounting,suchasKaplan（1984）whodefinedcostaccountingasauselessmodelamongseveralothermanagerialcostmodels.Forexample,Kaplanstressedthatreturnoninvestment（ROI）istheonlyusefulandwidespreadcostaccountinguponwhichafirm’sincentive-basedpaymentismodeled.Firstly,itshouldbesaidthatROIisnotacostaccounting;itiscalculatedonthebasisofcostaccounting.Secondly,theunderpinningstructureofROIisanarithmeticalapproachforpresentationo