Imagining accounting and accountability

Purpose This paper aims to set out several of the key issues and areas of the inter‐disciplinary field of visual perspectives on accounting and accountability, and to introduce the papers that compose this AAAJ special issue. Design/methodology/approach This takes the form of a discussion paper, exploring several key issues related to visual perspectives on accounting and accountability. Findings The paper suggests that there has been some myopia with regard to the importance of the visual in accounting and accountability, and introduces a variety of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches. Research limitations/implications It is hoped that the issues and approaches explored in this paper, together with those of the various papers of this AAAJ special issue, will stimulate increased research on visual perspectives on accounting and accountability. Practical implications The analyses of the ways in which the visual is implicated in accounting are of interest to accounting researchers, practitioners, trainees and auditors. Originality/value The paper surveys past work on visual perspectives in accounting and organization studies, provides an overview of challenges in the area, and sets an agenda for future research.