Abstract
As it enters its 20th year of publication as an international refereed journal, Accounting History continues to explore diverse accounting topics in a broad range of historical contexts and using heterogeneous research methods and theoretical frameworks. The settings for the articles published in this issue range across Australia, Canada, Sri Lanka, the UK and the USA.
Doron’s article is concerned with one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting the development of the accounting profession in the United States: the Securities Act of 1933. Consideration was being given to establishing a “government bureaucracy of auditors” before Congress was persuaded to leave the corporate audit role in the hands of the public accounting profession. Doron challenges the “persistent myth” that Colonel Arthur Carter, then the President of the New York Society of CPAs, saved the day for the accounting profession through his testimony before Congress. However, while challenging the extent of the influence of Carter’s testimony, the myth surrounding that influence is, itself, shown to have had implications for the regulation of the accounting profession.
Shelton and Jacobs make a welcome contribution to augmenting the biographical record of significant contributors to accounting thought and practice. Their subject, Allan Barton, was very well known to accounting academics and practitioners in his home country of Australia, as well as internationally. In documenting Barton’s extraordinarily productive life, the authors draw attention to how his work spanned both the theoretical and practical aspects of accounting and also highlight the very significant contributions he made to university administration.
Great Britain’s two large colonies in North America – Upper and Lower Canada (now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada) – in the early nineteenth century provide the setting for the article by Bujaki. The author is concerned with the role of budget estimates in a major infrastructure project: the Rideau Canal. The first key theme emerging from the analysis is the visual aspect of the budgeting process. That is, descriptive commentary accompanying the budget estimates was fundamental in enabling readers to visualise the project. The second key theme focusses on the use of budgets as a rhetorical device in garnering political support for the construction of the canal – a waterway still in use today, although it is now used mainly for recreational purposes rather than as the major transport route it once was.
The British Army in the 18th and 19th centuries is the subject of the study by Black, who challenges the traditional assumption that the rank and file members were largely illiterate and innumerate. The evidence for this challenge comes in the form of archival records – in particular, pay lists and other accounting documents – that draw attention to the presence within the ranks of soldiers who could read, write and perform arithmetical calculations. Further, some of those soldiers appear to have been proficient in basic bookkeeping and clerical functions. This study stands as a compelling illustration of how accounting history connects to, and can have implications for, the wider field of history generally.
Finally in this issue, Liyanarachchi extends his earlier study (see Accounting History 2009, volume 14, issue 1/2) of Buddhist Temple Accounting in ancient Sri Lanka. The author applies Littleton’s seven antecedents of bookkeeping to this novel setting, with the inscriptions studied dating back as far as the third century B.C. The author finds that although Littleton’s antecedents were present in ancient Sri Lanka, this did not manifest in the development of double entry bookkeeping. Instead, a simpler method of accounting was prevalent. Comparisons to developments in three medieval settings are made to contextualise the study and explain the observations made.