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This article shows that the theoretical perspective known as ‘finitism’ – whose central author is Barry Barnes – throws light on fundamental issues to do with accounting and financial reporting. The author recaps the main tenets of finitism and distinguishes it from a theory of meaning to which it is opposed: extensional semantics. The analysis draws on an empirical case study of accounting and financial reporting in a U.K. mid-market company. The author argues that finitism offers an appropriate viewpoint from which to analyze the application of accounting rules.