The Work of the Special Committee on Research Program

Abstract:     
This article begins by recounting the circumstances that led to the AICPA's decision in 1957 to appoint a special committee to recommend a stronger research program to support the process of establishing accounting principles. It then proceeds to examine in considerable depth the committees' sometimes difficult deliberations that eventually led to a unanimous report, in which it recommended the creation of an Accounting Principles Board and an enlarged accounting research division within the Institute. In the course of the article, the author brings out the strong philosophical differences among several of the Big Eight accounting firms that had been impeding the work of the Committee on Accounting Procedure and that also intruded into the special committee?s deliberations.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 41

Keywords: Standard setting; Accounting Principles Board; Financial reporting; Accounting history

JEL Classification: M41, M44

working papers series