The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting StandardsBoard (FASB) recently published the final version of Chapter 1 of their jointConceptua lFramework for Financial Reporting (IASB/FASB, 2010). In this article, we focus on twoof the key issues addressed in Chapter 1: stewardship and the definition of the primaryuser groups of financial statements. To address the discourses surrounding the evolutionof Chapter 1, we introduce the concept of ‘‘living law’’ from sociological jurisprudence int oaccounting scholarship. We first trace the role of stewardship/accountability in the evolutio nfrom antiquity to the present day—of the living law of accounting. We then explore the origin, nature, and implications—from a living law perspective—of the moral traditions associated with stewardship/accountability. Our analysis suggests that stewardship has been, and continues to be, embedded in the living law of accounting—notwithstanding the formal pronouncements of standard setters. We also examine the social accounting project from a living law perspective and we suggest that such an analysis provides newpossibilities for addressing core social accounting concerns. We conclude by arguing that particularly in light of the far reaching impact of the neoliberal agenda, there is an urgent need for scholars in both contemporary ‘‘social’’ and ‘‘mainstream’’ accounting to recognize and build upon their shared living law heritage roote in the age-old traditions of stewardship accountability