De la représentation des immatériels en comptabilité

This research focuses on the representation of intangibles with particular emphasis on the process of creation and use of accounting numbers by companies and standard setters. The article considers a possible trade off between diverging conceptions for intangibles recognition, using a constructivist perspective, and describes the perception of the two actors. The observations of accounting practitionners whose function involves making decisions about company views to the « Conseil national de la comptabilité » and of a number of national accounting standard setting bodies answers to the Exposure Draft 50 of the « International Accounting Standards Board » are reported. Special reference is made to the issues of relevance and reliability as two major properties of accounting information. Finally, the research shows that congruence expressed by the actors on the subject of intangible recognition proceeds from consistent theorical or consensual consideration in an institutional context.