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Parallels between US and UK cost accountancy in the World War I era

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  • Richard Fleischman
  • Thomas Tyson

Abstract

Both the US and UK governments attempted desperate measures during World War I in an effort to maintain wartime production levels of necessary commodities and to allow for their economical purchase by the military. Loft (1986a, 1986b, 1990) has studied the British experience in depth, concluding that UK cost accountancy 'came into the light' as a result. It might be expected that similar developments would have occurred in America with the activities of the War Industries Board. In both countries, national associations were established in the immediate aftermath of the war to promote the professional standing of cost accountants. This paper utilizes archival materials in an effort to investigate whether US cost accountancy was developing more sophisticated costing techniques as Loft has claimed for the UK, or whether practitioners in this country were left 'still cursing the darkness'. Our findings suggest that cost accountancy developed in parallel fashion in both countries. US and UK cost accounting professionalism was dominated by the presence of leading financial accounting practitioners, and in both countries the movement towards more sophisticated costing techniques was gradual rather than dramatic.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Fleischman & Thomas Tyson, 2000. "Parallels between US and UK cost accountancy in the World War I era," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 191-212.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:10:y:2000:i:2:p:191-212
    DOI: 10.1080/095852000411032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Trevor BOYNS, 2005. "Illuminating the darkness: the impact of the First World War on cost calculation practices in British firms," Economic History 0503006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Elena Gori & Silvia Fissi, 2013. "Il rapporto tra l?espansione delle strade ferrate italiane e lo sviluppo della Societ? Anonima San Giorgio: dal 1905 alla vigilia del primo conflitto mondiale," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(1), pages 35-62.
    3. Fleischman, Richard K. & Tyson, Thomas N. & Oldroyd, David, 2013. "America's “exceptional” transition to capitalism: A counter view," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(7), pages 616-626.
    4. Baños Sánchez-Matamoros, Juan, 2014. "Management accounting and rationalisation in the Army: The case of Spanish Military Hospitals in the 18th century," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 71-77.
    5. Bryer, Rob, 2013. "Americanism and financial accounting theory – Part 2: The ‘modern business enterprise’, America's transition to capitalism, and the genesis of management accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 273-318.
    6. Martin Quinn & Desmond Gibney, 2018. "Accounting at an Irish maltster – the accounting practices of Bennetts of Ballinacurra in the 1920s and 1930s," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1-2), pages 61-84, May.
    7. Richard Mattessich, 2003. "Accounting research and researchers of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century: an international survey of authors, ideas and publications," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 125-170.

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