ABSTRACT
Most issuers2 of financial reports believe that whatever is, is basically right in financial reporting. For example, Flegm, a prominent issuer, referred to “The discipline, reliability, yes, even the artistic beauty of [the double-entry, historical cost-based financial reporting system] . . .” (Flegm, 1989, 95). This conforms with the view stated in several places in this book, that we financial reporters3 in effect currently paint pretty pictures4 rather than report.
