The Priesthood of Industry The Rise of the Professional Accountant in British Management

by Matthews, Derek; Anderson, Malcolm; Edwards, John Richard

• ISBN13: 9780198289609
• ISBN10: 019828960X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-06-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Priesthood of Industry documents the history of the rise of accountants in the United Kingdom to their present position as the dominant professional grouping in the boardroom and in the top echelons of British management. Focusing on the individual professional accountant, the authors adopt an economic determinist analysis to explain the rise of public practice and the routes by which staff transferred to industry in increasing numbers. They also identify demand and supply side factors to explain the professional accountant's present hegemony in business management. In addition, the book traces the origins of the major professional bodies and the evolution of 'family trees' of the 'Big Six' accountancy firms.

Author Biography

Professor Edwards is editor of the leading international journal Accounting, Business and Financial History

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xii	(1)
List of Tables	xiii	(2)
Abbreviations	xv
1. Introduction	1	(15)
The professionalization process	1	(2)
The accountancy profession	3	(4)
Demand and response	7	(6)
Concluding comments	13	(3)
2. Roots of the Profession	16	(22)
Some numbers and practices	17	(1)
The pathway to `public accountant'	18	(4)
Non-accounting services	22	(3)
Training new entrants	25	(1)
Getting started	26	(4)
Accelerating demand for accounting services	30	(6)
Concluding comments	36	(2)
3. The Rise of the Accounting Function	38	(51)
Accountancy firms	38	(20)
Accountancy societies	58	(11)
Counting the accountants	69	(5)
Gender	74	(4)
Social and financial backgrounds	78	(8)
Concluding comments	86	(3)
4. Accountants and Business Management in Victorian and Edwardian Britain	89	(53)
The economic background: economic decline and the rise of the corporate economy	89	(4)
Insolvency	93	(4)
Auditing	97	(7)
Consultancy	104	(8)
Cost accounting	112	(7)
Taxation	119	(1)
Public sector work	120	(3)
Company secretaries and directors	123	(9)
Entrepreneurs and employees	132	(7)
Concluding comments	139	(3)
5. Accountants in the Economic Maelstrom: The First World War and the Inter-war Years	142	(41)
Economic background	142	(3)
Professional practice	145	(6)
Accountants in public service in the First World War	151	(3)
Special work in rationalization, rescues, and mergers	154	(6)
Accountants on the board	160	(4)
Coming in at the top	164	(4)
Accountants working their way up	168	(5)
Accountants in charge	173	(7)
Concluding comments	180	(3)
6. Rise of the `Priesthood' in the Post-Second World War era	183	(59)
Accountants at war	183	(3)
Economic background	186	(3)
Professional firms	189	(14)
Routes to the top	203	(24)
Some numbers for accountants in industry	227	(13)
Concluding comments	240	(2)
7. Some Explanations and Conclusions	242	(41)
A quarter of a million professional accountants	242	(4)
Businesses' demand for accountants	246	(5)
Management and accounting education	251	(11)
Accountants in top management	262	(14)
Concluding comments	276	(7)
Appendix: Family Trees of Accountancy Bodies and Firms	283	(40)
References	323	(22)
Index	345