Imag[in]ing accounting and accountability

Purpose - This paper aims to set out several of the key issues and areas of the inter-disciplinary field of visual perspectives on accounting and accountability, and to introduce the papers that compose this Design/methodology/approach - This takes the form of a discussion paper, exploring several key issues related to visual perspectives on accounting and accountability. Findings - The paper suggests that there has been some myopia with regard to the importance of the visual in accounting and accountability, and introduces a variety of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches. Research limitations/implications - It is hoped that the issues and approaches explored in this paper, together with those of the various papers of this Practical implications - The analyses of the ways in which the visual is implicated in accounting are of interest to accounting researchers, practitioners, trainees and auditors. Originality/value - The paper surveys past work on visual perspectives in accounting and organization studies, provides an overview of challenges in the area, and sets an agenda for future research.

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