Problematic Issues Concerning the Accounting Method

In the conditions of the digitalization of the economy, information requests from stakeholders are steadily increasing, which necessitates the improvement of the theory and practice of accounting as the primary source of data on the financial condition and activities of the enterprise. The article’s purpose is a critical analysis of the scientific literature on problematic issues of accounting method tools and the development of ways to solve them. The researchers conducted a content analysis of scientific publications authored by leading Ukrainian scientists actively involved in developing the theoretical foundations of accounting science. Methods such as the dialectical method, analysis and synthesis, comparison, induction and deduction, and a systemic approach were used to process the collected data. The article offers a comprehensive disclosure of the essence of the accounting method, its elements and tools, as well as the specifics of their application in financial and management accounting in the present conditions. The study results indicate that the accounting method is a set of processes (elements) implemented using the appropriate tools. The terms “element of the accounting method” and “tool” are not identical: an element of the method is the process of researching and reflecting accounting objects, and a tool is a means of its implementation. Thus, the key elements of the accounting method are: documentation, inventory, evaluation, calculation, bookkeeping, double entry, balance sheet generalization and reporting, as well as tools that ensure their practical implementation – documentation, inventory, evaluation, calculation, accounts, financial and management reporting. In turn, management accounting, as a separate type of accounting, has its own characteristics, and its methods and elements additionally cover budgeting, break-even analysis, internal transfer pricing, economic-mathematical and analytical methods, as well as management decision-making processes. The study’s results clarify the theoretical foundations of accounting science and can be used to improve textbooks on accounting theory.