MA.Preface:4 - Correct use, evidence and effort

Begin by stating what the account must explain. For a connected use of the language, establish that the chosen methods answer that question, that their resource and monetary meanings agree where they connect, and that material time, uncertainty and supply conditions survive the connection. Use each pattern’s substantive questions for the result it supplies; reopen the conditions changed by the current use.

A recognizable discrepancy is a reason to investigate. It is not proof that a proposed order should be accepted, that an allocated cost is avoidable or that a measure caused behavior. The worked examples establish reasoning under supplied facts. An actual conclusion needs adequate support for its resource relationships, terms, observations and causal claims.

The gain is a smaller and better explained next decision. The cost is obtaining and maintaining the facts the account needs. Reuse adequate models and observations. Increase detail where a plausible difference could change the answer or its required assurance.

A commercial example supplies no universal monetary objective. An internal or public service can use these accounting methods while obtaining its intended result and choice criteria from the responsible practice. Forecast and performance arrangements must also be examined from the affected participants’ positions, rather than assuming a single account expresses every interest.