Accounting

Ksenija Černe∗

UDK 675.012 Review Pregledni rad

INFLUENTIAL FACTORS OF COUNTRY'S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT The accounting system of each country is affected by different influential factors. As there is a very small possibility that influential factors of two countries will be equal, they can also be considered as generators of national specificities. The level of differences of each influential factor between countries implicates the intensity of accounting differences at the international level. The actuality of international accounting harmonization issues imposes the need of consideration and detailed examination of factors that influence the development and accounting system in one country. Considering the different classification of factors mentioned above, as well as factors which are extracted or specially emphasised in literature, some of them are described.

JEL: M 41 Key words: accounting system, influential factor, classification

1. INTRODUCTION As a social science, accounting is affected by the environment in which it operates, but at the same time, it is one of the factors impacting on this same environment. This is a fact that points to the interdependency of accounting and its environment. A country’s accounting system is affected by a variety of historical, economic, socio – cultural, institutional, and other non – accounting factors, so it is highly unlikely for the influential factors of any two countries to be exactly the same. Therefore, it can be logically assumed that the factors affecting the development of a country’s accounting system are also the generators of special national traits and, thus, the generators of differences between accounting systems at the international level. After all, just as countries have different histories and political and legal order or even value systems, so will their accounting systems have more or less differing development and operating model. In the literature, affirming or...