AT THE INTERSECTION OF FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING IMPACT MEASUREMENTS

Accounting can be defined in different ways, but despite the possible nuances of its potential
definitions, it has been established that accounting is a science that sets a system of measurement
that could, ideally, be built in several ways (Alexander & Nobes, 1994; Frank, 1979; Schipper &
Trombetta, 2010).
Examining accounting from a normative point of view, scholars have discussed several important
issues, for example how to define the building blocks of a proper measurement system for recording
organizational facts by using different sets of evaluation metrics (Mattessich, 1995). In this vein,
Mattessich (2002) distinguished between normative and conditional normative accounting
approaches, considering the latter able to synthetize the opposing views of the more orthodox
normative approach and the positive one.
Despite the opposition between the normative and the positive stances (Ball & Brown, 1968; Watts
& Zimmerman, 1978; 1990; Kaplan & Ruland, 1991; Milne, 2002), accounting has developed over
time both as a normative and as a positive science, depending on the cognitive needs that scholars
aim to address.
In particular, the normative foundations of accounting determine its features as a measurement
system and should not be considered an old-fashioned topic given its importance in influencing all
the results on which all theoretical discussions are based (Tinker et al., 1982).
In this regard, referring to the normative foundation of accounting, Ahmed and Belkaoui (2004, p.
ix) stated: “A single generally accepted accounting theory does not exist. Several attempts have
been made to formulate such a theory … the various attempt have resulted in different frameworks
for financial reporting standards”. This sentence highlights how the normative approach is not a
unified block; it is rather a nuanced set of different approaches. The differentiation among possible
accounting approaches comes from the fact that accounting develops “in response to perceived
needs … adapting to meet changes in the demands made on it” (Alexander & Nobes, 1994, p. 4). In
addition, accounting depends on the value theory adopted, so that “while value theory has
traditionally provided the logics for exchange relations, accounting has provided the system for
measuring and reporting reciprocity and exchange” (Tinker et al., 1982, p. 174).