The book contains a collection of papers dealing with a range of controversial accounting issues which exercised the minds of local authority officials during the period 1909-1934 and the "solutions" embodied in the Accounts (Boroughs and Metropolitan Boroughs) Regulations 1930. The contributors to the debate were mainly local government officials and the items reproduced cover a wide range of matters such as the content of the abstract accounts; the need for standardization and an illuminating comparison of the nature and contents of municipal accounts with those of limited companies. A number of issues which received close attention from the literature during the early part of the present century were related to the growth of municipal trading undertakings (water, gas, tramways and electricity). The pricing of these services was a matter of considerable debate; questions included whether these services should be priced to generate a profit, break-even or receive a subsidy from the rates. The depreciation question and the related issues of loan periods and the need for a sinking fund receive some attention as do the growing concern of municipal debt.

This book contains a collection of papers dealing with a range of controversial issues which exercised the minds of local authority officials from 1884-1908. The 28 items reproduced cover a wide range of matters. They are presented chronologically because many of the papers deal with more than one topic but also because it provides a clearer guide to the development of views on numerous inter-related issues. These issues are still of interest and relevant today: most of the papers deal with the need to improve the level of accountability to local electors – something which has been the main thrust of UK government policy since 1979. Other papers focus on the need to address internal accounting problems, such as the need for improved costing procedures to measure the performance of different activities.

These books make available material relating to the statutory regulations covering the degree of accountability required from local authorities during the period 1834-1936. The bulk of historical accounting research has focused on the development of financial accounting although in recent years the development of management accounting has attracted more interest. In both these areas, it has been the accounting practices of the private sector which have received more attention, central government in the Middle Ages some attention, and local government accounting very little. These volumes redress this imbalance in historical investigation, both to provide a comparative basis for work on the private sector and to provide an historical perspective for the system of local government accounting currently in use.

The period 1835-1935 saw the development of the structure of local government which remains broadly intact today and also the growth of modern financial reporting procedures. This book examines the accounting implications of these developments and places them within the social and organisational contexts in which the events took place. The research is based on the contents of government reports, contemporary literature dating from the mid 1870s and the archival records of five municipal corporations – Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester.