Author(s): Taha Ahmad Hasan Irdiny, Sinan Zuhair Mohammed Jameel, Ali Hazim Alyamoor,
The primary aim of the research is to analyse the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and categorise them based on the extent of their change or continuity over years. The first group of principles includes the principles that have remained unchanged from their inception to the present day, while the second one includes those principles that were unstable and changed in practical application and professional practices. We discuss the process of principles formation, and the conditions under which principles were changed, developed or remain unchanged. An inductive analytical approach was used to achieve the research objectives. We study and analyse the literature regarding the accounting principles and conventions and develop a set of recommendations and propositions that explain the historical development of accounting principles and their status between continuity and change. The research reached a set of conclusions, the most important of which is that the GAAPS as it exists today did not all emerged at the same time to form an integrated theoretical framework that governs practical application and professional accounting practices. Rather, each one emerged independently when the need for it emerged then its application spread and gained general acceptance.