TY - CHAP AB - Abstract The logical function of accounting ends is that of stimulating and directing appropriate accounting actions as means toward those ends. These ends should be tested for desirability, whereas the means should be tested for suitability. The pairing of ends and means should be based on realistic and convincing reasons. Furthermore, rather than being expressions of values, account data are symbols of quantitative pictures of overt transaction experience. As such, dual entries express the relationship of an intended effort on the enterprise and the consideration necessary to generate the transaction. A logically coordinated body of accounting theory, along these lines, should generate a logically coordinated body of technical actions. VL - 20 SN - 978-1-78635-389-4, 978-1-78635-390-0/1479-3504 DO - 10.1108/S1479-350420160000020042 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-350420160000020042 PY - 2016 Y1 - 2016/01/01 TI - Ends and Means T2 - A. C. Littleton’s Final Thoughts on Accounting: A Collection of Unpublished Essays T3 - Studies in the Development of Accounting Thought PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 175 EP - 186 Y2 - 2024/04/16 ER -