Abstract This article focuses on the statistical error concepts related to accounting. Both statistical sampling and accounting involve the processing of numbers. Although their means and ends differ, statistical science might serve as a useful point of departure for accounting research. The errors to be surveyed include unknown and unintentional differences from the true value. The intrusion of deviations into statistical procedures leading to estimation, testing hypotheses, and the latter's extension, decision-making, has long been recognized. Accordingly, sampling results are usually reported as "estimates" with "confidence limits." In contrast, the term, "actual'' is often employed to describe the amounts used in accounting for measurement, control, and, again, decision-making. This article raises the question whether accountancy could benefit from a formal theory of errors such as employed in statistics. This article has mentioned three types of unintentional errors primarily associated with measurement and three with control. They are recapitulated in the accompanying outline. Perhaps as an immediate benefit such a structure could be a means for the prevention of material errors.
Harold W. Fox (Sat,) studied this question.