Accounting Standards and the Judiciary

The aim of this paper is to assess by means of a study of decided cases the evidential weight attached by the courts to Statements of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAPs) and the status of their provisions relative to statutory accounting rules. This issue is discussed with reference to the accounting requirements of both the Companies Act and the Taxes Act. The extent to which non-statutory accounting principles have acquired the status of binding precedents is also considered. The study reveals that SSAPs have considerable persuasive value as evidence of accounting practice but that expert evidence has not been rendered redundant. There is considerable evidence that the courts regard the determination of accounting principles as a question of fact rather than law where statutory provisions are not in point.