Abstract The article focuses on a framework for understanding structure of financial accounting. In an effort to understand the present structure of financial accounting, it is essential that elements of that structure be examined continually. In identifying critical elements of such a structure, the Accounting Principles Board in its Statement No. 4 characterized "substance over form" as a basic feature of existing financial accounting (AICPA). The Study Group on Objectives of Financial Statements established by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) stated in its 1973 report that with respect to the qualitative characteristics of financial reporting, guidelines for reporting information should be expressed so that substance, not form, governs. A review of the professional literature indicates that there has not been published any comprehensive inquiry into the extent, to which substance over form has been incorporated into generally accepted accounting principles. Therefore, the objective of this article is to document the incidence and nature of substance over form as it has evolved in existing authoritative pronouncements.
Abstract Reviews the book "Research to Support Standard Setting in Financial Accounting: A Canadian Perspective," edited by Sanjoy Basu and J. Alex Milburn.