14. Why Are Accounting Standards Necessary?
Accounting standards are necessary to promote high quality financial reporting. The fundamental role of accounting is to communicate economic information about businesses and other organization to various stakeholders including government, investors, shareholders, suppliers, lenders, customers, and the public. These stakeholders use such information to take decisions and to assess the stewardship of people appointed to manage such organizations. If this information were not of a high quality standard, then the stakeholders would be unable to take effective decisions that will benefit them. For example, if a financial report were manipulated to show higher profits, investors would hold on to their shares with the belief that the company is doing well.
