The authors present the fact that subjectivity in the process of financial reporting itself leads to inconsistency as same transactions can be reported in different ways by the management depending on their judgment. The authors use legal resources too to explain the differences between rules and principles. The authors cite Cunningham (2007) who holds that rules minimize the scope for professional judgment. On the other hand, scholars like Dworkin (1967) highlight that principles do not direct a course of action, but they steer the decision maker in one direction. Thus while rules are specific (Kivi et al, 2004), principles are general prescriptions and are comparatively considered vague.
作者提出，在财务报告过程本身的主观性导致不一致，同样的交易的事实可以根据自己的判断以不同的方式管理报告。作者利用法律资源太多解释的规则和原则之间的差异。作者引用坎宁安（2007）的人认为规则减少职业判断的范围。另一方面，学者如德沃金（1967）强调，原则不直接采取行动，但他们引导决策者在一个方向。因此，虽然规则具体（基维等人，2004），原则是一般的处方和比较被认为是模糊的。
