The development of fixed asset accounting in South African gold mining companies: confronting the issues of prudence, matching, periodicity and capital maintenance
Robert Luther
Accounting and Business Research, 1998, vol. 28, issue 4, 281-295
Abstract:
The ‘Appropriation Method’ of accounting applied by South African gold mining companies is fundamentally different from mine accounting elsewhere and results in reported earnings and asset values that are not comparable with those of mining companies in other countries. This paper traces the development of the Method, in an historical context, in an attempt to understand why, and how, it emerged and became established. Particular attention is paid to 19th century writings of local accountants, ‘transactions’ of professional bodies, and to the special characteristics of the South African gold mining industry. Transitional processes are illustrated by reference to the published accounts of the Crown Reef Gold Mining Company. The persistence of the Appropriation Method is a reminder that while assumptions of uniform accounting periods, matching, business continuity and the need for capital maintenance underpin most conventional accounting, nevertheless useful accountings can exist without these assumptions.
Date: 1998
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)
Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.1998.9728916 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:28:y:1998:i:4:p:281-295
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RABR20
DOI: 10.1080/00014788.1998.9728916
Access Statistics for this article
Accounting and Business Research is currently edited by Vivien Beattie
More articles in Accounting and Business Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().