Genesis of Accounting Profit: A Dialectical Approach

This paper intends to explain the genesis of accounting profit from the viewpoint of dialectical materialism. Here accounting profit means the expression-form of value-change or surplus which is produced by human beings’ activities. In other words, it is a form of alienation.One of the characteristics of this paper is to try to criticize accounting from the viewpoint of accounting, not economics nor sociology. The meaning of criticize here is to explain the rationality of the existence of accounting profit, i.e. make clear the reason for the birth and development of accounting profit, because the affirmation by the explanation of rationality means the negative explanation at the same time.Accounting profit is a balance concept and, therefore, it must be computed according to a computation structure, i.e. bookkeeping, single or double. Some writers assert that accounting is so subjective as to change profit as accounting likes. However, what is asserted in this paper is that one cannot help using the computation-structure of bookkeeping, in book or in brain and single or double form, to measure income and it is difficult to change accounting arbitrarily.The reason why transaction cost cannot help becoming the basis of valuation in double bookkeeping is explained. Needless to say, holding gain or money-value change should not be ignored. However, these problems should be discussed more as a development of accounting profit, based upon the part which is dealt with in this paper.