A Note on the Discounted Present Value Concept.

Abstract The discounted present value concept plays an important part in accounting theory, often being viewed as the ideal concept of value. There is, though, a school of thought which, while recognizing the importance of the concept in decision making, argues that the primary function of financial accounting is in the assessment of achievements. It also argues that this indicates a need for ex-post measures which are conceptually distinct from discounted present value. This note complements their work by arguing that accountants do not have a comparative advantage in the determination of discounted present value for investors and that this task should be left to the stock market.