A History Of Accounting And Accountants

First Published in 1968. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The only comprehensive chronicle of American accountancy from the colonial period to the present, this completely revised edition provides practicing accountants and professional accounting students with a thorough knowledge of the origins of their profession. Gary John Previts and Barbara Dubis Merino address the evolution of accounting in social, political, and economic terms and discuss the major figures in each historical period. They consider the development of accounting in all of its major institutional domains, including public practice, financial reporting, business management, government, and education.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History shows how the seemingly innocuous practice of accounting has pervaded human existence in fascinating ways at numerous times and places; from ancient civilisations to the modern day, and from the personal to the political. Placing the history of accounting in context with other fields of study, the collection gives invaluable insights to subjects such as the rise of capitalism, the control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the functioning of the state, and the pursuit of military conflict. An engaging and comprehensive overview also examining geographical differences, this Companion is split into key sections, which explore: changing technologies used to represent financial and other data historical development of accounting theory and practice accounting institutions and those who perform accounting accountancy and the economy accounting, society, and culture the role of accounting in the government, protection and financing of states including chapters on the important role played by accountancy in religious organizations, a review of how the discipline is portrayed in fine art and popular culture, and analysis of sharp practice and corporate scandals. The Routledge Companion to Accounting History has a breadth of coverage that is unmatched in this growing area of study. Bringing together leading writers in the field, this is an essential reference work for any student of accounting, business and management, and history.

This volume deals with the evolution of accounting from earliest times, and gives particular attention to corporate accounting developments since the Industrial Revolution. The author identifies the various sources of accounting practices employed by British companies, to demonstrate the main changes which have taken place, when they occurred and why. The author emphasises the need to understand the legal, social and economic context in which accountancy changes take place, and also studies the conflicts which arise between suppliers and users of accounting statements. The study concludes with an examination of the duties performed by the professional accountant, the extent to which these have changed in the course of time and how his position in society is reinforced by the activities of professional institutions.

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In the business world, recent years have seen a growing acknowledgement of the value of intangible assets rather than physical assets. This has precipitated a crisis in the accounting industry: the accounting representations relied upon for years can no longer be taken for granted. Here, Norman Macintosh argues that we now need to understand accounting in a different manner. Offering several different ways of looking at accounting and accountants, he draws upon the work of eminent thinkers such as Barthes, Baudrillard, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard and Bahktin. In doing this, he develops revolutionary insights into the nature of accounting, pioneering the introduction of contemporary poststructuralist ideas into accounting theory and practice. With a wide range of examples and case studies and now available in paperback for the first time, this revolutionary new work will be essential reading for academic and professional accountants along with all those with an interest in the future of accounting.

The world certainly suffers no shortage of accounting texts. The many out there help readers prepare, audit, interpret and explain corporate financial statements. What has been missing is a book offering context and discussion for divisive issues such as taxes, debt, options, and earnings volatility. King addresses the why of accounting instead of the how, providing practitioners and students with a highly readable history of U.S. corporate accounting. More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History of Accounting was inspired by Arthur Levitt's landmark 1998 speech delivered at New York University. The Securities and Exchange Commission chairman described the too-little challenged custom of earnings management and presaged the breakdown in the US corporate accounting three years later. Somehow, over a one-hundred year period, accounting morphed from a tool used by American railroad managers to communicate with absent British investors into an enabler of corporate fraud. How this happened makes for a good business story. This book is not another description of accounting scandals. Instead it offers a history of ideas. Each chapter covers a controversial topic that emerged over the past century. Historical background and discussion of people involved give relevance to concepts discussed. The author shows how economics, finance, law and business customs contributed to accounting's development. Ideas presented come from a career spent working with accounting information.

This book, first published in 1988, is a readable, concise history of the accounting profession in the US from its beginnings to the late twentieth century. It examines the roots of the profession, how it developed, how its standards have evolved, and what social, economic and legal forces have shaped it. The chapters form a series of dramatic highlights, illustrative of the multifarious problems besetting a young profession, catapulted into prominence by the economic and social forces of the twentieth century.

Among the major professions, certified public accountancy has the most severe underrepresentation of African Americans: less than 1 percent of CPAs are black. Theresa Hammond explores the history behind this statistic and chronicles the courage and determination of African Americans who sought to enter the field. In the process, she expands our understanding of the links between race, education, and economics. Drawing on interviews with pioneering black CPAs, among other sources, Hammond sets the stories of black CPAs against the backdrop of the rise of accountancy as a profession, the particular challenges that African Americans trying to enter the field faced, and the strategies that enabled some blacks to become CPAs. Prior to the 1960s, few white-owned accounting firms employed African Americans. Only through nationwide networks established by the first black CPAs did more African Americans gain the requisite professional experience. The civil rights era saw some progress in integrating the field, and black colleges responded by expanding their programs in business and accounting. In the 1980s, however, the backlash against affirmative action heralded the decline of African American participation in accountancy and paved the way for the astonishing lack of diversity that characterizes the field today.