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.

The book presents a series of researched biographies of professional accountants who immigrated to the United States and developed their careers there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This volume is a tribute to the efforts of a relatively small group of Scots who helped to establish and nurture American public accountancy at a time when demand for its services greatly exceeded the ability of native-born accountants to provide them.

This book, first published in 1988, analyses the early development of the US public accounting profession. It gathers in one place writings – contemporary accounts, recollections and historical studies – that portray the early decades of the profession. It is a key book for students of the early development of the US accounting profession.

According to Miranti (accounting, Rutgers), gaining both internal cohesiveness and external acceptance were challenges faced not just by accounting (as he describes in this history), but also by other new licensed professions. He presents a model explaining how the roles and responsibilities of licensed professions developed to accommodate the growing complexity of modern American Society. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publisher description

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.

Addresses Global Accounting History developments, focusing upon financial reporting, and related institutional aspects of disclosures for accountability and decision making purposes. This title also addresses five countries of the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.