Abstract
A recent debate has suggested that the established supremacy of the dichotomic classification of accounting systems dividing systems into ‘Anglo-Saxon' and ‘continental European' models is to be contested. No clear-cut conclusion has resulted from the discussions and comments on these results, and this paper sets out to throw more light on the issue by presenting the origins and value of the classification exercise, a review of the major studies that have furthered the debate, and a critical and dynamic perspective of the exercise highlighting the customary precautions required to ensure a certain degree of reliability in results, and therefore in the classification.