What Do the Numbers Mean? What's Your Principle? The need for a conceptual framework is highlighted by account- ing scandals such as those at Royal Ahold (NLD), Enron (USA), and Satyan Computer Services (IND). To restore public confi- dence in the financial reporting process, many have argued that regulators should move toward principles-based rules. They believe that companies exploited the detailed provisions in rules- based pronouncements to manage accounting reports, rather than report the economic substance of transactions. For example, many of the off-balance-sheet arrangements of Enron avoided transparent equity owner interpretatio transactions that account nature. Une ment's fina compliance attained fin