Both US GAAP and IFRS have been struggling for years to establish a theoretically coherent overall concept of accounting. The contradiction between the revenue and expense view and the asset and liability view remains unresolved. Stefanie Schmitz explains from a historical and theoretical perspective why the goal of an internally consistent accounting system has not yet been achieved. At the same time, the author positions theoretical accounting research in the present. She highlights the methodological possibilities and limitations of this normative research direction in comparison to the widespread (natural) scientific research trend.