Provisions are an area in which most accountants will feel confident in theory, but which can sometimes be riddled with grey areas. Indeed we might say that those accounting for this area must tread a path not of certainty, but of doubt. Accounting for provisions has to do with the measurement of doubts, and the quantification of uncertainties.

Accounting standards can be seen in different ways and from different angles, but one way of looking at them is through the way they define their terms. A benefit of this approach is that it can allow us to understand the principles that underpin the particulars of an accounting treatment.