It is generally understood that the creation and use of knowledge-based assets can provide a company with a competitive advantage, but can a dollar value of knowledge and its effects on the balance sheets be quantified? Some pioneering academics believe that it can and should be quantified, as intellectual assets have developed into an enormous contributor to corporate performance and wealth, yet only a partial picture of financial performance appears on the balance sheets. These pioneers believe that a new accounting method must be developed to obtain the value of knowledge and intellectual assets, the attributes that now ultimately determine the success or failure of a company, because current accounting methods leave these major determinants completely unrepresented.