The practice of "closing" company ledgers each year and producing annual balance
sheets and income statements is firmly established around the world. However,
although annual balancing and closing of accounts has been common in Europe for at
least 500 years, it was not universally adopted until the beginning of the twentieth
century. This paper posits the contention that, in certain circumstances, it is
appropriate to sacrifice uniformity in favour offlexibility. The argument is
illustrated by reference to insurance and mining companies which, especially prior
to 1914, had the characteristics of single ship ventures. For them the concepts of
accounting periodicity and matching were less relevant than in other industries and
annual accounts were of questionable value. By detailed examination of company
reports and by bringing together the arguments of prominent accounting thinkers it
is shown that, on the question of periodicity, a "one sizefits all" approach is
potentially damagingly restrictive.
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