A comparison of different approaches to modeling financial statements

Abstract

This paper describes the relational, entity-relationship (ER), and object-based approaches to modeling financial statements; and discusses the strengths, weaknesses, and user adaptability of these models. We believe that the relational, ER, and object-oriented models may not be individually adequate to model the accounting processes in an integrative accounting information system. The increasing amount of disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements and the complex compliance requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act suggest that the object-relational model may be appropriate to model both the quantitative and qualitative items in the accounting processes. The object-relational model builds on the strengths of the relational, ER, and object-oriented models and mitigates the weaknesses of these models. We develop a set of propositions based on our review of the current literature on the conceptual models.