Life Support Paradigm — a New Idea for the Development of Accounting and Reporting

The article provides a comprehensive authors' study of a new accounting and reporting paradigm, which takes into account the interdependence of the life support of stakeholders and economic agents in the face of uncertainty, risks, new opportunities associated with environmental and social transformations, the transition to digital and remote technologies and the use of artificial intelligence. The authors present a new accounting model, which is formed under the influence of vital issues of ecology, social development, information exchange, automation and, as a result, the manifestation of serious interest in non-financial indicators and non-financial reporting. Due to the rapid changes in accounting and reporting there arise many questions of a conceptual nature, especially in industrial sphere, which calls for the formation of a fundamentally new theoretical study. In the current situation with COVID-19, a company being a representative of an economic community faces social and environmental problems, the successful solution of which provide the life support of the whole mankind. The research uses the techniques of comparative analysis of existing scientific and theoretical materials, methods of logical and expert analysis. To achieve the results of the study and confirm the hypothesis, the authors reconstructed the chronology of the emergence of accounting models having generalized the works of modern scientists in this area. The results of the work confirm the need to determine the actual essential approach to the accounting and reporting paradigm: it is revealed that the modern theory is shaped under the influence of the needs of the individual, company and society. It is proposed to characterize the life support paradigm as the formation of information reflecting the conditions of life support of the company and interested parties, taking into account the values accepted. The authors argue that the proposed accounting theory is related to life support and life values and is not limited to an economic operation. The research results can be applied to further develop the ideas of the authors and improve the method of professional judgment when developing the accounting and reporting paradigm. The results of the research can be used to improve the method of professional judgment in the development of the accounting and reporting paradigm and its practical implementation, as well as for continuing theoretical developments in the field of accounting theory.

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