Metatheory

A hypothesis is a testable explanation or guess about why something happens; a prediction. A hypothesis helps to think about and test an idea.  

A theory is a well supported explanation of why something happens.  A theory is used to explain an idea or ideas. 

A law describes (makes a statement about) a universal principle or phenomenon that consistently specifies what must happen under specific conditions and is based on empirical evidence from observations.  Laws describe what happens.  Another term for law is principle.

And so, it seems that a hypothesis is a preliminary testable idea or notion, a theory is a tested explanation of an idea or notion, and a law is a descriptive regularity of the nature of an idea or notion. 

A metatheory is a higher‑order framework that defines the foundational principles, assumptions, and evaluation criteria for constructing and comparing theories.

If a theory is a blueprint, a metatheory is the building code that determines what blueprints are allowed, how they must be structured, and how they should be evaluated. It seems like a metatheory is the rules for constructing, comparing, and validating theories.

And so, it seems that my Financial Statement Mechanics and Dynamics is a metatheory.  The explanation of the mechanics and dynamics of a financial statement is a metatheory; what I referred to as "micro theories" are the theories that make up the metatheory.  

But I think that metatheory needs to be separated into two parts (i.e. the micro theories need to be grouped into two categories).  Part one is the digital information organism itself and part two is the stuff that  goes into the digital information organism. Why? The reason is that there are two different types of systems that can be described by the mechanism: financial oriented systems and nonfinancial oriented systems.

Financial oriented systems relate to double entry bookkeeping as explained by the Essence of Accounting. Financial oriented systems must follow the laws of double entry bookkeeping.  Nonfinancial oriented systems have no such requirement.

Most of the core micro theories that are used to specify/control a financial statement's mechanics and dynamics currently really apply to the general business report.

  • Theory of Physical Format Independence - this deserves a better name, but I am not sure what that name might be
  • Theory of Mathematical Integrity - this obviously is general and also applies to nonfinancial oriented systems.
  • Theory of Model Structure - this is general and relates to a general business report; but a financial statement would add additional constraints to the model structure.
  • Theory of Information Blocks - every one of the current types of information blocks used for financial statements equally applies to general business reports also.
  • Theory of Fundamental Accounting Concepts and Reporting Styles - this appears to relate to financial statements, but it really can be generalized to Theory of High Level Concepts and Report Styles.
  • Theory of Types and Parts - this micro theory relates to both general business report types and parts and financial statements.
  • Theory of Disclosures and Disclosure Mechanics - this is better generalized as the Theory of Artifacts and Artifact Mechanics
  • Theory of Reportability - reportability relates equally to general business reports and to financial statements.


There are a lot of additional theories that extend beyond general business reports that can be leveraged by financial statements.  Likewise, I would suspect, there are additional theories that can be applied to  general business reports in general or to specific types of general business reports.  Said another way; reports have categories and that categorization is leverageable.

I see a bottomless pit of possibilities.  But to get this started, the foundation must be stable.  The sub straight or scaffolding or what ever you want to call it needs to be rock solid.  The Seattle Method provides a framework, structure, and process for achieving this not just for financial statements; but for other types of reports also. Check out my garden.

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