George Sorter's Influence on Accounting Thought

Abstract

ABSTRACT This manuscript is a biography of George H. Sorter. An innovative accounting theorist and educator, Sorter was concerned about how accounting information could be used in financial and management decision-making. He criticized accounting as a profession for failing to own up to the limitations of financial reports, which do not reveal the “value” of the firm, and for hiding behind confusing jargon. As a result, Sorter formulated an “events” approach to provide financial statement users with data useful for decision making. Valuation of the firm is a subjective endeavor, a matter of individual user perception, he maintained. He served as a member of the AAA Committee for “A Statement of Basic Accounting Theory” (ASOBAT) and as the research director of the AICPA's “Objectives of Financial Statements” (AICPA 1973, Trueblood Report). This manuscript focuses primarily on Sorter's contributions to the Trueblood Report.