The ontoREA@ accounting and finance model: inclusion of future uncertainty

Abstract

The OntoREA© accounting and finance model [1] indicates already in its name a fundamental distinction, i.e. the distinction between the accounting related backward looking perspective into the past and the finance related forward looking perspective into the future. Accordingly, in accounting current economic events are recorded and persisted and in finance future related commitments are addressed. Concerning the completeness of accounting and finance concepts there is an asymmetry in the OntoREA© model. The accounting concepts are completely covered, whereas in the coverage of the forward looking finance perspective one main deficiency exists: The uncertainty surrounding the forward looking perspective is not specified. In this article the problem of the missing uncertainty representation in the OntoREA© accounting and finance model is explicitly addressed. The novel approach consists in directly linking uncertainty to commitments. By conceptualizing uncertainty according to the stochastic concepts that underlie the option pricing [2–4] and the intertemporal equilibrium pricing theory [5], the missing representation is solved. Furthermore, the stochastic concepts have a precise ontological meaning [6, 7]. Hence, the extension of the current model with the proposed uncertainty representation gives a well-founded stochastic model of the accounting and finance domain.