THE DEFINITION OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
THROUGH TEXTBOOK CONTENTS
Dr. Hervé Stolowy
HEC School of Management (Groupe HEC)
Department of Accounting and Management Control
1, rue de la Libération
78351 - Jouy en Josas Cedex - France
Phone: +331 39 67 94 42
Fax : +331 39 67 70 86
E-mail:
For Presentation at the 8th World Congress of the
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR ACCOUNTING EDUCATION
AND RESEARCH (IAAER)
Paris, France, October 23-25, 1997
Second draft (January 31, 1997)
May not be quoted or used without permission. Review comments welcomed. Please contact the
author.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Acknowledgments. The works referred to in this report were studied by the author and by Véronique N'Guyen and
Philippe Touron, students on the HEC doctoral program at the School’s Department of Accounting and
Management Control. The study is based on a comparative table, developed after consulting several experts in the
field, to whom we extend warm thanks: David Alexander, University of Hull (UK), Frederick Choi, New York
University (USA), Gary Meek, Oklahoma State University (USA), Christopher Nobes, University of Reading
(UK), Robert Parker, University of Exeter (UK), Lee Radebaugh, Brigham Young University (USA), Steven
Salter, University of Cincinnati (USA), Stefano Zambon, University of Padua (Italy).
Particular thanks go to Michel Tenenhaus, Professor at the HEC Group, who supplied valuable help in statistical
processing of data, for which we were assisted by Philippe Touron.
We should also like to thank Michel Lebas, Professor at the HEC Group, who reviewed a first draft of this paper
and contributed to its improvement. However, responsibility for the results and opinions expressed remains solely
and entirely with the author.
Finally, we wish to thank Ann Gallon, for her much appreciated help in preparing the English language version of

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INTRODUCTION - PRESENTATION
The development of international accounting
In twenty-five years, international accounting, as G. Mueller
1
states, has outgrown its childhood
and adolescence to become a young adult, and its growth is reflected in the large quantity of
accounting literature in the sphere. Why are researchers and academics so interested in this
"discipline" ? There are several possible answers. F. Choi and G. Mueller
2
point out that now at
the end of the twentieth century, a period shaped by the forces of global competition, operating,
financing, and investing decisions are colored by their international implications. As many of these
decisions are premised on accounting data, a knowledge of international accounting issues is
crucial for achieving proper interpretation and understanding in international business
communications.
Paradoxically, we have observed that although many publications referred to factors with an
internationalizing influence on accounting, few of them supplied any real definition of the concept
of international accounting. Furthermore, there is no one single definition of international
accounting, and several visions of the concept currently co-exist.
Objectives of the research
This research aims to identify the field of international accounting by reference to a sample of
European and American textbooks on the subject. It should further our knowledge of the way in
which international accounting is approached in these books, and enable academics to assess their
position in relation to the various approaches currently used for teaching international accounting.
Methodology
Our goal is to identify the field of international accounting based on the themes covered by
textbooks on international accounting, and also their prefaces, forewords and introductory
chapters.
The following methodology was applied: (1) Establishment of a detailed bibliography of books on

Reference books (country-by-country presentation), (3) Published research or anthologies, and
(4) Case studies.
This paper refers only to textbooks. We determined that it was not advisable to analyze reference
books, whose main objective is to describe accounting practices in a certain number of countries.
Moreover, these works are not always truly comparative accounting studies, as they often only
allot a relatively small amount of space to comparison
4
.
For similar reasons, we eliminated from our sample publications relating to international
accounting but which represented research in the field, such as "Judgment in international
accounting" by A. Belkaoui (1990), "International Group Accounting", coordinated by S. Gray,
A. Coenenberg and P. Gordon (1993), and "International Accounting: A Survey" by J. Samuels
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3
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and A. Piper (1985). All of these are of great interest, but were eliminated as a result of our
desire to study the way international accounting is viewed from an education standpoint, which
led to textbooks alone being selected for the final sample.
We are aware that our system of classification is debatable, as a "textbook" is a relative concept.
Of course some research work, and even reference books (for example the collection directed by
L. Klee - see appendix 2) can be used as a basis for teaching. In addition, American textbooks
have a very standardized presentation - chapter objectives, chapter, questions, specific
bibliography - whereas European textbooks, particularly French ones, do not generally include
such headings.
For borderline cases, objective criteria had to be applied. It was thus decided to exclude all works
which did not contain questions or a bibliography, and so we arrived at a sample of 15 books
published since 1990 (see appendix 1). The publications we did not select are listed in appendix 2.
3 - DEFINITION OF A TABLE FOR ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLE
In order to define a table to analyze our sample and obtain comparable data, we sent a list of 34
topics (see appendix 3) to 12 accounting academics and international accounting specialists,

accounting" theme. For simplicity’s sake, and to avoid increasing the number of themes, we opted
to put all foreign currency-related topics into a single theme.
The themes determined in this way are listed below:
Table 1: List of themes
1
General presentation (Introduction/Definition of international accounting, emerging issues)
2
Classification of financial reporting practices (classifications and differences, environmental influences)
3
Comparative accounting practices (by countries and by issues)
4
Harmonization/International standards
5
Financial reporting and disclosure
6
International financial statement analysis
7
Foreign currency management (exchange rate, foreign-currency transactions and translation, future
contracts, transaction exposure, accounting for inflation)
8
Managerial accounting (management control, strategic planning, performance evaluation, capital
budgeting for multinationals, accounting information systems for multinational corporations)
9
International taxation (systems, transfer pricing)
10
Auditing (internal, external)
4 - APPLICATION OF THE ANALYSIS TABLE TO THE SAMPLE
We determined the proportion of the publication occupied by each theme in relation to the space
devoted to all themes as a whole, by calculating the number of pages allotted to it. This enabled
us to obtain comparable data for all the publications. In drawing up the tables, the following

practices
Comp-
arative
acc-
ounting
pract-
ices
Harmon
-ization/
Inter-
national
stand-
ards
Finan-
cial
report-
ing and
dis-
closure
Inter-
national
financial
state-
ment
analysis
Foreign
curren-
cy
manage-
ment

Standard deviation 5% 9% 27% 10% 11% 8% 11% 7% 6% 5% 0%
5 - CLASSIFICATION
The prefaces, forewords and introductory chapters of the selected works contained pointers to
several possible classifications of topics and themes. T. Evans, M. Taylor and O. Holzmann
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6
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(1994, p. 2) believe that the most important topics in international accounting fall into two
categories:
Financial accounting topics: Translation, Consolidation, Segment reporting, Inflation
accounting, Disclosure, Auditing, Taxation, Comparative accounting (with non-US nations).
Managerial accounting topics: Foreign exchange risk management, Foreign investment analysis,
Information systems, Transfer pricing, Budgeting, Performance evaluation, Control, Operational
auditing.
This categorization is somewhat debatable, as it gives the role of foreign currencies, for example,
an impact in both areas, and has the same effect for other topics, such as consolidation or the
treatment of inflation.
These authors state
6
that international accounting is a well-established specialty area within
accounting and has two major dimensions: (1) Comparative: Examining how and why accounting
principles differ from country to country; and (2) Pragmatic: accounting for the operational
problems and issues encountered by individuals and firms in international business. Although, in
our opinion, there is no common division in these two systems of classification, Evans, Taylor
and Holzmann add that the comparative dimension of international accounting is oriented toward
financial accounting, and the pragmatic one tends to be managerial.
L. Radebaugh and S. Gray (1993, p. 9) also write that the study of international accounting
involves two major areas: descriptive/comparative accounting and the accounting dimensions of
international transactions/multinational enterprises. This second area principally covers the
problems encountered by multinational corporations: Financial reporting problems, translation of

Accounting information production Accounting information utilization
1 General presentation 5 Financial reporting and disclosure
2 Classification of financial reporting practices 6 International financial statement analysis
3 Comparative accounting practices 8 Managerial accounting
4 Harmonization/International standards
7 Foreign currency management
9 International taxation
10 Auditing
A fourth system of classification can also be proposed, based on the number of themes covered
out of the ten selected themes. First, the presence or absence of themes in a given publication
must be noted (see table 6 below)
7
. The summarized results (see table 7, number of pages) are
then used to classify the sample textbooks according to the categories in the above tables.
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8
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Table 6: Number of themes
Gen-
eral
pres-
ent-
ation
Classif-
ication of
financial
reporting
practices
Comp-
arative

ting
In-
ter-
natio
nal
tax-
ation
Audit-
ing
Total
Alexander & Nobes 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0
7
Alhashim & Arpan 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10
Belkaoui 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0
7
Blake & Amat 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
6
Campedelli 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
3
Choi & Mueller 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10
Evans, Taylor 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1
7
Iqbal, Melcher & Elmallah 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10
Lawrence 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
5
Mueller, Gernon & Meek 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
9

production
Accoun-
ting
inform-
ation
utilization
Total
Alexander & Nobes 84% 16% 100% 91% 9% 100% 77% 23% 100%
Alhashim & Arpan 63% 37% 100% 77% 23% 100% 76% 24% 100%
Belkaoui 39% 61% 100% 54% 46% 100% 70% 30% 100%
Blake & Amat 91% 9% 100% 97% 3% 100% 97% 3% 100%
Campedelli 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100%
Choi & Mueller 50% 50% 100% 65% 35% 100% 73% 27% 100%
Evans, Taylor 33% 67% 100% 57% 43% 100% 90% 10% 100%
Iqbal, Melcher & Elmallah 63% 37% 100% 78% 22% 100% 60% 40% 100%
Lawrence 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 89% 11% 100%
Mueller, Gernon & Meek 65% 35% 100% 73% 27% 100% 49% 51% 100%
Nobes & Parker 95% 5% 100% 100% 0% 100% 95% 5% 100%
Obert 81% 19% 100% 97% 3% 100% 75% 25% 100%
Quesada, Blanco & Gonzalez 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 66% 34% 100%
Radebaugh & Gray 65% 35% 100% 78% 22% 100% 76% 24% 100%
Zambon 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 100% 0% 100%
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9
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6 - ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS OF TEXTBOOKS USING THE TABLES
The sample textbooks on international accounting were classified on the basis of relevant criteria.
A principal component analysis , using two tables of data (table 2, Relative importance of themes
covered, and table 7, Classifications, plus the total themes as shown in table 6), brings out the
factors which predominate in each publication’s contents. This means that the properties of a

0.0
1.0
.5
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10
-
Factor 1 (F1): View of internationalization
Factor 1 shows:
• positive correlation with the "international taxation" and "foreign currency management"
variables, and to a lesser extent, with the "managerial accounting" variable;
• negative correlation with the "comparative accounting practices" variable.
In terms of content, it marks the contrast between works on multinational accounting and works
on comparative accounting practices. The former cover problems inherent to the
internationalization of accounting systems common to most countries, while the latter examine
differences between national accounting systems.
Factor 2 (F2): The generalization (non specialization) factor
Factor 2 shows:
• positive correlation, principally with the "harmonization/international standards" variable, and to
a lesser degree with the "general presentation", then the "classification of financial reporting
practices" variable;
• negative correlation with the "auditing" variable.
These variables never exceed 15% of the total pages in a sample publication.
This factor reflects the fact that no particular subject dominates within the publication, and/or that
the publication covers essentially general subjects: general presentation, classification of practices
and international standardization. It therefore separates the non-specialized works from the
others.
Factor 3 (F3)
Factor 3 shows:
• positive correlation with the "financial reporting and disclosure" variable;
• negative correlation with the "international financial statement analysis" variable.

Evans
Choi
Camp ed elli
Blake
Belkaoui
A lhashim
A lexander
factor
score 1
for
analysis 1
0.0
.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
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12
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Diagram 3
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THEMES
Position of textbooks in relation to factor 3 and 1
REGR factor score 3 for analysis 1
2.01.51.0.50.0 5-1.0-1.5-2.0

8
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Belkaoui Blake Alexander
Choi Campedelli Alhashim
Evans Lawrence Iqbal
Mueller Nobes Radebaugh
Quesada Zambon
Obert
Group 1: works on international accounting
The works of Belkaoui, Choi, Evans & Mueller treat accounting from a transnational point of
view. Their factor 2 coordinates are well into the positive (diagram 2). Comparative accounting,
in their books, has a relatively less important position than in the other works studied: less than
20% of pages. International managerial accounting issues occupy a prominent position, ranging
from 35% for Mueller to more than 60% for Belkaoui and Evans.
Auditing is approached either only marginally as by Choi and Evans (7% of pages), or not at all
by the others. General themes represent a relatively significant portion of the total, from 14% for
Evans to 24% for Belkaoui and Mueller.
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13
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Similarly, Mueller devotes 21% of his pages to disclosure, and Belkaoui allocates 14% to
comparative financial analysis.
Group 2: works on comparative accounting
This group comprises books where the majority, that is more than 50% of discussion, concerns
comparison of national accounting practices in different countries, and there is no independent
reference to transnational accounting. Four books devote more than two thirds of their pages to
comparisons of accounting practices in different countries, and never more than 20% to another
theme: they are the works of Blake (66%), Campedelli (76%), Lawrence (80%) and Nobes
(69%).
The works of Obert and Quesada cover not only comparative practices, which occupy 50% and

0 .0
5
-1.0
Financial accounting
Descriptive/comparative approach
Managerial accounting
Accounting dimension
of multinational enterprises
Accounting information production
Accounting information utilization
A
Number
Factor B
Factor A: "global" or "local" approach
Factor A shows:
• positive correlation with the following variables: number, multinational dimension of
enterprises, managerial accounting;
• negative correlation with the following variables: descriptive-comparative approach, financial
accounting.
The "financial accounting" and "descriptive-comparative approach" variables, and the
"multinational dimension of enterprises" and "managerial accounting" variables have, respectively,
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15
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the same coordinates in relation to the two factors. Their similarity reflects the existence of two
groups of publications: works on "international multinational" accounting and works on
comparative financial accounting.
Factor B: whether the approach is strongly focused on information production
Factor B shows:
• positive correlation with the “accounting information utilization” variable;

2
1
0
-1
-2
-3 Factor A
Factor B
Radebaugh
Alhashim Choi
Belkaoui
Evans
Blake
Alexander
Obert
Quesada

chapters, we noted that only rarely did an author state a precise definition of international
accounting. The table below summarizes our findings:
Table 10: Inclusion or otherwise of a definition of international accounting
Title (authors) Definition included
A European Introduction to Financial Accounting (Alexander & Nobes) No
International Dimensions of Accounting (Alhashim & Arpan) No
International & Multinational Accounting (Belkaoui)
Yes
European Accounting (Blake & Amat) No
Ragioneria Internazionale (Campedelli)
Yes
International Accounting (Choi & Mueller)
Yes
International Accounting & Reporting (Evans, Taylor & Holzmann)
Yes
International Accounting - A Global Perspective (Iqbal, Melcher & Elmallah)
Yes
International Accounting (Lawrence)
Yes
Accounting - An International Perspective (Mueller, Gernon & Meer) No
Comparative International Accounting (Nobes & Parker) No
Pratique internationale de la comptabilité et de l'audit (Obert) No
International Accounting & Multinational Enterprises (Radebaugh & Gray)
Yes
Normativa contable internacional (Quesada, Blanco & Gonzalez) No
Profili di ragioneria internazionale e comparata (Zambon)
Yes
7.1 Works without a definition of international accounting
There are several possible explanations for the non-inclusion of a definition. The most probable
reason is that for the authors, international accounting as such does not exist, but is in fact

needs of international financial markets, and (4) harmonization of worldwide accounting and
financial reporting diversity via political, organizational, professional, and standard-setting
activities.
For A. Belkaoui (1994, p. 12), these new environmental factors of (1) the global economy, (2)
the international monetary system, (3) the multinational corporation, and (4) foreign direct
investment, have created an environment in which business transactions, their conduct,
measurement and disclosure, take new and distinctive forms that call for a specific accounting
subdiscipline. That accounting subdiscipline is international accounting.
The definition of international accounting, like its field of application, undergoes frequent changes
in order to adapt to changing contexts, needs and expectations. International accounting takes in
all the technical accounting problems in financial, managerial, tax and auditing areas that have a
bearing on the conduct, measurement and disclosure of foreign operations. There are issues
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19
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relevant to international business which create special accounting problems and specific solutions
that differ from the solutions adopted in a domestic context.
In the words of T. Evans, M. Taylor and O. Holzmann, international accounting, which includes
both financial and managerial accounting, is defined as accounting for international transactions,
the operations of international firms, and comparisons of accounting principles and practices
found in foreign lands and the procedures by which they are established.
According to M. Iqbal, T. Melcher and A. Elmallah (1997, p. 2), international accounting is
defined as accounting for international transactions, comparisons of accounting principles in
different countries, and harmonization of diverse accounting standards worldwide. This definition
encompasses the operational needs of the accountant in financial, managerial, tax, auditing, and
other areas of accounting.
For S. Lawrence (1996, p. 1), a short definition could concentrate on the two words
"international" and "accounting". The former can be defined as "concerning or involving two or
more nations or nationalities" and the latter "the process of recording, analyzing and reporting
financial information so as to maximize the value of the information produced". Thus international

edition, 1992, 252 pages.
BELKAOUI Ahmed: International & Multinational Accounting. The Dryden Press (UK), 1994, 502 pages.
BLAKE John and AMAT Oriol: European Accounting. Pitman (UK), 1993, 237 pages.
CAMPEDELLI Bettina: Ragioneria Internazionale. G. Giappichelli Editore (Italy), 1994, 366 pages.
CHOI Frederick D.S. and MUELLER Gerhard G.: International Accounting. Prentice Hall (USA), 2nd edition,
1992, 610 pages.
EVANS Thomas G., TAYLOR Martin E. and HOLZMANN Oscar: International Accounting and Reporting.
South-Western Publishing (USA), 2nd edition, 1994, 536 pages.
IQBAL Zafar, MELCHER Trini & ELMALLAH Amin E. : International Accounting - A Global Perspective.
South-Western, 1996, 450 pages.
LAWRENCE Steve: International Accounting. International Thomson Business Press, 1996, 411 pages.
MUELLER Gerhard G., GERNON Helen and MEEK Gary K.: Accounting - An International Perspective. Irwin
(USA), 3rd edition, 1994, 200 pages.
NOBES Christopher and PARKER Robert (coordinated by): Comparative International Accounting. Prentice Hall
(UK), 4th edition, 1995, 494 pages.
OBERT Robert: Pratique internationale de la comptabilité et de l'audit. Dunod (France), 1994, 307 pages.
QUESADA SANCHEZ Francisco Javier, BLANCO GOMEZ Antonio and GONZALEZ GIMENEZ Raimundo:
Normativa contable internacional. Ediciones Ciencias Sociales (Spain), 1991, 435 pages.
RADEBAUGH Lee H. and GRAY Sidney J.: International Accounting and Multinational Enterprises. John Wiley
& Sons (USA), 3rd edition, 1993, 582 pages.
ZAMBON Stefano: Profili di ragioneria internazionale e comparata. Cedam (Italy), 1996, 267 pages.
APPENDIX 2 - LIST OF PUBLICATIONS NOT INCLUDED IN SAMPLE
1 - Textbooks
FOX Samuel and RUESCHOFF Norlin G. : Principles of International Accounting. Austin Press (USA), 1986.
HOLZER H. Peter (coordinated by) : International Accounting. Harper & Row (USA), 1984, 524 pages.
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2 - Reference works
ALEXANDER David and ARCHER Simon (coordinated by) : The European Accounting Guide. The Academic

3 Description/comparison of financial reporting practice by countries (down to specific level)
4 Description/comparison of financial reporting practice by issue (LIFO, pension, etc.)
5 Description/comparison of financial reporting practice by measurement/disclosure continuum
6 Description/comparison of financial reporting practice by analyzing foreign financial statements
7 Comparison/description of countries by institutional framework
8 The measurement disclosure debate
9 Harmonization and financial markets
10 The institutional framework of harmonization/IASC standards
11 Foreign exchange-markets
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12 Foreign exchange-basics, products, terminology, and mechanics
13 Accounting for foreign exchange transactions
14 Accounting for foreign exchange translation (SFAS No. 52)
15 Foreign exchange risk management
16 Capital budgeting in multinational enterprises
17 International auditing (internal)
18 International auditing (external)
19 International auditing (the international auditing firm)
20 The foreign Corrupt Practices Act
21 Systems of taxation outside the U.S.A.
22 Taxation-U.S. taxation of foreign income
23 Taxation-transfer pricing
24 Management accounting issues
25 Accounting information systems issues (MIS)
26 Accounting for inflation (cross-national comparisons)
27 Capital markets effects of international accounting diversity)
28 Environmental influences on accounting systems and practices
29 Segmental reporting

Definitions. International Journal of Accounting, autumn, pp. 80-81.
11
The only exception is the textbook by L. Radebaugh and S. Gray : it should be pointed out that S. Gray teaches
in the UK. Furthermore, the first two editions of this book were published by a different pair of authors, L.
Radebaugh and J. Arpan, both working in the USA. Although S. Gray has no doubt left his mark on the third
edition, our statistical analysis shows that this book, which belongs to family A, is influenced by American
teaching practices.