Calling all parties: Now is the time to come to the aid of the balance sheet

Abstract

Recently, accountants were instructed by President Bush to get their acts together. Indeed, the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and other recent corporate financial reporting failures have prompted a loss of faith in accountants and accounting. To a large extent, this loss of faith involves corporate balance sheets and it is warranted. Corporate managers and shareholders have a vested interest in addressing balance sheet shortcomings. This article highlights the pervasive shortcomings of contemporary corporate balance sheets, identifies the underlying foundational tensions creating those shortcomings, offers proposals to address those tensions, and discusses the potential implications of our proposals.