The Operation of Representation in Accounting: A Small Addition to Dr. Machintosh's Theory of Accounting Truths

Dr. Norman Macintosh spans more theoretical horizon than most accounting researchers. There is a line of interest in his oeuvre concerned with the expansion of social theory to accounting issues. He is particularly fond of post-structuralist perspectives and has generated an enjoyable account of the bullshitter – the preparer of financial annual statements who plays by the rules but has no concern with objectivity and correspondence to reality. In this paper I challenge Macintosh just a little bit on the implications of bullshitting by addressing the problem of correspondence and objectivity in a slightly different way.