one block of stakeholders, but other stakeholders include vendors and creditors as well as potential employees. Each of these stakeholders has an interest in understanding the financial condition of a company, and the accounting practices which are in place throughout the world, and which sometimes come into conflict, can make that difficult. From this standpoint then, presenting the differences between accounting practices in select European countries and the United States has relevance to these individuals.
Analysis of the Logic/Completeness of Argument
The authors present a brief overview of accounting practices in four European nations and then call for a harmonization of accounting practices among developed nations. The four countries selected are all in Western Europe; no mention is made of Japan or other Asian nations where there is strong economic activity. After presenting accounting practices which differ in details but which are fundamentally similar, the authors call for a harmonization of accounting practices, but make no specific recommendations as to which specific accounting practices should be used to establish this sought-after standard (Doost and Ligon, 1986, p. 60).
When discussing the various countries, the authors focus on the presentation of financial statements (the income statement and balance sheet), the training that accountants receive or are required to have, and the level of government intervention that is associated with a particular nation's accounting practices. Thus we learn that in the United Kingdom, practical experience is required before accountants can take the equivalent of the CPA exam. On the other hand, no higher education degree is required for the same exam, where many states require a college degree before they can be tested (Doost and Ligon, 1986,
...