The Necessity of Clarification of Basic Accounting Concepts and Development of Ukrainian Accounting Theory

In recent years, a systemic crisis has been observed in Ukraine in accounting theory. It manifests itself in the absence of deep scientific research and the development of new teaching aids for the course "Theory of accounting", which would meet the requirements of the time and consider the current state of development of the national accounting system. The purpose of the article is to analyze the differences in basic accounting concepts in different models of accounting theory, and identify problems and directions for the development of accounting theory in Ukraine. The role of legislative documents in the formation of theoretical foundations of accounting has been disclosed. Three main models of understanding accounting theory in Ukraine (national normative; normative according to IFRS; educational accounting theory) have been allocated. Peculiarities of origin and content characteristics of each of the selected models have been analyzed. Three areas of research conducted by scientists in the field of accounting theory have been allocated. The lack of clearly defined conceptual proposals among scientists for further development of accounting theory in Ukraine has been grounded. Based on the analysis of normative legislation, the problem of lack of common understanding of basic accounting concepts (business transactions; actions; events) has been identified. Three options for the relation between basic accounting concepts have been allocated. Two main problems have been formulated, which arise due to the existence of a multivariate understanding of the essence and correlation between basic accounting concepts (content-classification problem; the problem of content-time interpretation). Examples of incorrect interpretations of basic accounting concepts by national and foreign scientists have been given. The peculiarities of the relation between basic accounting concepts in the Conceptual Framework for the Financial Reporting and IFRS have been analyzed. The peculiarities of the interpretation of basic accounting concepts according to SFAC no. 6 "Elements of financial statements" have been grounded. The necessity of making changes in the national accounting legislation to clarify the content and correlation between basic accounting concepts has been grounded. In response to modern changes in the economic reality of enterprises and the system of accounting regulation, it has been proposed to develop the national accounting theory by increasing the number of elements of the accounting method, in particular, by including the object identification to the elements of accounting method.