Shared ledger accounting: Implementing the economic exchange pattern

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) suggests a new way to implement Accounting Information Systems, but an ontologically sound consensus-based design is missing to date. Against this research gap, the paper introduces a DLT-based shared ledger solution in a formal way and compliant with Financial Reporting Standards. We build on the COFRIS accounting ontology (grounded on UFO) and the blockchain ontology developed by De Kruijff & Weigand that distinguishes between a Datalogical level, an Infological and an Essential (conceptual) level. It is shown how both consensual and enterprise-specific parts of the business exchange transaction can be represented in a concise way, and how this pattern can be implemented using Smart Contracts. It is argued that the proposed Shared Ledger Accounting system increases the quality of the contents from an accounting perspective as well as the quality of the system in terms of auditability and interoperability.