Limits of Experience

Abstract

Alternatives to inventory pricing and depreciation expense calculation are examples of actions beyond the limits of the actual experience of an enterprise. They tend to mix expectations (looking forward) with actual experience (looking backward). Both cannot be equally objective. The calculation of insolvency, company mergers, and secret reserves as well as the confusion between values and prices are some of the possible antecedents for the muddling of experience with expectations.

Citation

(2016), "Limits of Experience", A. C. Littleton’s Final Thoughts on Accounting: A Collection of Unpublished Essays (Studies in the Development of Accounting Thought, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 105-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-350420160000020034