Hines (1988) Financial Accounting: In Communicating Reality, We Construct Reality Question: What is Hines trying to say?

Identify a passage or theme that you liked/ disliked.

Discuss this with your neighbor: Why? Why not?

What elements/quotes/sections of the article are relevant to accounting regulation? Identify an element/quote/section and explain why it is relevant to regulation.

The following key questions could also be discussed:

In the Hines article who is the conversation between?

Why do you think the article is written as a conversation between those two people?

What is the point that Hines is trying to make about the River?

What is the point that Hines is making about revenue?

According to Hines, is it possible to have the full picture? What are the implications of not having the full picture?

How would you describe Hines example of the black hole? What does she mean?

What is the role of the accountant in creating the fence? What is this trying to demonstrate?

Why is it important to consider what lies outside of the fence of the organisation?

Do accountants give the full picture?

Why is it important to construct a particular picture of the organisation?

Why is the power of the accountant hidden? What is the impact of the hidden power?

Do accountants stretching the truth too far?