The philosophy of accounting encompasses the general rules, concepts, and ideas surrounding the preparation and auditing of the accounts and financial statements of individuals or companies. Due to the legal ramifications of inaccurate or falsified financial documentation, one of the most fundamental parts of the philosophy is the need for transparency. Being transparent is vital, as fair and accurate documentation and accounting of income and expenditures are crucial. It is particularly true for publicly traded corporations. Key ideas involved in the philosophy of accounting include fairness, honesty, transparency, equity, and justice. What do they mean in a practical sense? They mean that accountants must provide a fair and honest representation of all the numbers documented in their accounting records, not skewing any of the numbers to make a company look better or worse than it truly is. They cannot hide or fail to document any information (transparency). In order to be fair across the board, documentation and reporting procedures must be the same for every company. The philosophy of accounting is, of course, an ideal or a set of ideas and standards that should surround the practice of accounting. However, there are several issues that arise with trying to implement these philosophical concepts in a practical way. Such issues include: Technocratic accountants subscribe to the idea that there is a rational approach to the best methods to accurately and fairly account for the financial doings of a client. Technocratism is the general belief that a solid technical understanding and application of accounting practices provide the best basis for handling a client’s financial records. In other words, rational rules are the best means for governing accounting practice. Accounting scandals and their severe consequences shed light on the ambiguity of accounting. This paper attempts to explore the philosophical roots of accounting in an attempt to remove, or at least mitigate, this ambiguity. The study employs Searle’s framework of the construction of social reality as an approach to achieve this aim. It is argued that the main problem of accounting is its failure to faithfully represent economic reality. The evaluation of recent developments in accounting suggests that although these attempts are a step towards reaching a better representation of economic reality, they are insufficient. A great deal of accounting ambiguity still exists, thus, future accounting scandals are likely. It is therefore suggested that a deeper understanding of the philosophical aspects of accounting should be taken into consideration by accounting standard setters.