This article argues that the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) neglects social structures and the special culture of operational economics. The article refers to an ethnographic study of a family-owned shipping company in Sweden (Forsberg, 2001). Based on an understanding of how the people in this company actually think and work the article suggests that an accounting system suitable for a family-owned shipping company should consider the relevance of operational economics, income smoothening and prevention of speculations.