First Published in 1998. The area examined in this book falls loosely under the category of 'accounting integration' where research should explain how the accounting systems in both countries are designed to integrate cost and financial accounting. The authors of this book had previously been working independently on the early development of accounting for industrial enterprises within their own countries. They claim that in order to understand modern day similarities and differences, it is necessary to understand how the current practices and systems have come into being.

During the 1960s and 1970s a remarkable series of books was produced by academic staff in the field of accounting at the University of Sydney. It was a period when academic research was largely analytical rather than empirically-based. For the most part, the interests of academics at Sydney were largely directed at questioning the status quo - either in the way accounting or auditing was practiced, or in the conventional wisdom expressed in textbooks of the time. The Sydney Accounting Classics series reflects the diversity of interests of the 'Sydney school' at that time. It also recognises the tremendous impact of the foundation professor of accounting, R.J. Chambers. This reprint series ensures that the ideas developed during this period remain available to new generations of scholars and researchers. The Sydney Accounting Classics series is an initiative of the Accounting Foundation, in association with Sydney University Press. Accounting for Common Costs: The editor of the 1978 edition called this a 'seminal work ... in one of the most difficult allocation problems in accounting'. Accounting for Common Costs contains a comprehensive historical study of the allocation of costs in accounting practice, as well as discussion of points of difference and the need to promote economic efficiency.