*3.3. Bifurcations*

Bifurcations address the idea of "threshold concept", which refers to "a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something" (p. 1) [45]. A bifurcation symbolizes a threshold from which a new accounting branch/twig emerges from the conventional accounting venue. It marks the conflicting assumptions between two accounting branches or twigs that can be alternative to each other. The signposts labeled in bifurcations are used to express the rationales that underpin such inconsistencies and conflicts between concepts or theories. For example, the bifurcation between the financial accounting trunk and the sustainability accounting branch is labeled with the signpost, "financial versus non-financial", denoting the non-financial element that distinguishes sustainability accounting from its traditional counterpart. Another example is the twig-to-twig bifurcation with a sign of "historical cost versus anti-historical cost" to distinguish between financial reporting and the alternative measurement method. It suggests financial reporting is underpinned by the historical cost assumption, whilst the alternative measurement methodologists adopt an opposing stance to this assumption.
