Quantitative Proteinbestimmung im Harn mit dem Proteinbindungsfarbstoff Coomassie Brilliant Blau G250

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Separation – integration – and now …? - An historical perspective on the relationship between German management accounting and financial accounting

German accounting has traditionally followed a dual ledger approach with strictly separated internal cost accounting, as the basis for management information, and external financial accounting focusing on creditor protection and based on the commercial law. However, the increased adoption of integrated accounting system implies a significant change in the relationship between financial and management accounting systems. We use Hegelian dialectic to trace the historical development of German accounting from separated systems towards antithetical propositions of full integration, and the emergence of partial integration as the synthesis of this transformation process. For this reason, our paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the relationship between financial and management accounting in Germany. On this basis, we elaborate how financial accounting in Germany has been shaped by its economic context and legislation, and how financial accounting – accompanied by institutional pressures – in turn influenced management accounting. We argue that the changing relationship between management and financial accounting in the German context illustrates how current accounting practice is shaped not only by its environment, but also by its historical path. Based on this reasoning, we discuss several avenues for future research

The regulation of asset valuation in Germany

This article examines the regulatory history of asset valuation in Germany from the fifteenth century to the implementation of the European Economic Community's Fourth Directive in 1986. Aiming to explain regulatory changes by reference to preceding socio-economic and political developments, we find that accounting requirements often became more restrictive following economic crises, after which regulation was perceived to be inadequate. In the nineteenth century, fair valuation replaced the early practice of historical cost accounting. Following a severe economic crisis in the 1870s, historical costs were reintroduced as an upper valuation boundary for Aktiengesellschaften (stock companies). However, the requirements were unspecific and discretionary and provoked a lively debate on principles-based accounting after 1900. The interwar years and the Great Depression encouraged the Government also to implement historical cost as a lower boundary to asset valuation. Following the Second World War, the valuation principle was extended to all company forms. © The Author(s) 2013