IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v35y2005i4p307-326.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accounting on the frontline: cost accounting, military efficiency and the South African War

Author

Listed:
  • Warwick Funnell

Abstract

The South African War (1899–1902) exposed significant defects in the administration of the British army which precipitated several parliamentary inquiries. The findings of these inquiries convinced the British Government that army administrators, but especially those responsible for supplying the army, had given insufficient attention to the military benefits which might be obtained from the methods and experience of business. The absence of cost accounting systems throughout the War Office and on the field of battle, resulting in problems for financial management and military efficiency, was given particular prominence by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee (Esher Committee) and the Royal Commission on War Stores in South Africa. The paper broadens the compass of the debate about the evolution of cost accounting in the latter decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries by demonstrating how the advantages of cost accounting were clearly established and accepted by many senior civilian military administrators and politicians as a result of British experience during the South African War.

Suggested Citation

  • Warwick Funnell, 2005. "Accounting on the frontline: cost accounting, military efficiency and the South African War," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 307-326.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:35:y:2005:i:4:p:307-326
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2005.9729997
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2005.9729997
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2005.9729997?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, James, 1991. "The aura of accounting in the context of a crisis: Germany and the first world war," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 487-520.
    2. Miller, Peter, 1990. "On the interrelations between accounting and the state," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 315-338.
    3. Armstrong, Peter, 1987. "The rise of accounting controls in British capitalist enterprises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 415-436, August.
    4. Hoskin, Keith W. & Macve, Richard H., 1988. "The genesis of accountability: The west point connections," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 37-73, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carmona, Salvador & Donoso, Rafael & Walker, Stephen P., 2010. "Accounting and international relations: Britain, Spain and the Asiento treaty," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 252-273, February.
    2. Weetman, Pauline, 2006. "Discovering the ‘international’ in accounting and finance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 351-370.
    3. Miley, Frances & Read, Andrew, 2021. "Soldiers don't go mad: Shell shock and accounting intransigence in the British Army 1914-18," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    4. Noguchi, Masayoshi & Nakamura, Tsunehiko & Shimizu, Yasuhiro, 2015. "Accounting control and interorganisational relations with the military under the wartime regime: The case of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's Nagoya Engine Factory," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 204-223.
    5. 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.
    6. Malcolm Anderson, 2006. "Accounting History Publications 2005," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 457-462.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    2. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Walker, Stephen P. & Shackleton, Ken, 1995. "Corporatism and structural change in the British accountancy profession, 1930-1957," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 467-503, August.
    4. Alnoor Bhimani, 1998. "Knowledge, motivation and accounting form: an historical exploration," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30.
    5. Noguchi, Masayoshi & Nakamura, Tsunehiko & Shimizu, Yasuhiro, 2015. "Accounting control and interorganisational relations with the military under the wartime regime: The case of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's Nagoya Engine Factory," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 204-223.
    6. Matilal, Sumohon & Adhikari, Pawan, 2020. "Accounting in Bhopal: Making catastrophe," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. Spence, Crawford, 2010. "Accounting for the dissolution of a nation state: Scotland and the Treaty of Union," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 377-392, April.
    8. Tweedie, Jonathan, 2023. "The emancipatory potential of counter accounting: A Žižekian critique," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    9. Halliday, Terence C. & Carruthers, Bruce G., 1996. "The moral regulation of markets: Professions, privatization and the english insolvency act 1986," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 371-413, May.
    10. Luft, Joan & Shields, Michael D., 2003. "Mapping management accounting: graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 169-249.
    11. Carnegie, Garry D. & McBride, Karen M. & Napier, Christopher J. & Parker, Lee D., 2020. "Accounting history and theorising about organisations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    12. Giovanna Centorrino, 2021. "The complex power dynamics within a health care institution during the 15th and 18th centuries. The case of the Great and New Hospital of Palermo," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 11-59.
    13. Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2009. "Order and accounting as a performative ritual: Evidence from ancient Egypt," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 348-380, April.
    14. Jones, Michael John, 2018. "Domesday book: An early fiscal, accounting narrative?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 275-290.
    15. Neu, Dean, 2006. "Accounting for public space," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 391-414.
    16. Bento da Silva, Jose & Llewellyn, Nick & Anderson-Gough, Fiona, 2017. "Oral-aural accounting and the management of the Jesuit corpus," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 44-57.
    17. Bakre, Owolabi M., 2008. "Financial reporting as technology that supports and sustains imperial expansion, maintenance and control in the colonial and post-colonial globalisation: The case of the Jamaican economy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 487-522.
    18. Quattrone, Paolo, 2004. "Accounting for God: accounting and accountability practices in the Society of Jesus (Italy, XVI-XVII centuries)," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 647-683, October.
    19. Bigoni, Michele & Funnell, Warwick & Verona, Roberto & Deidda Gagliardo, Enrico, 2018. "Accounting and raison d’État in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany: Reopening the University of Pisa (1543–1609)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-19.
    20. Funnell, Warwick & Antonelli, Valerio & D'Alessio, Raffaele, 2019. "Accounting and psychiatric power in Italy: The royal insane hospital of Turin in the 19th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-21.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:35:y:2005:i:4:p:307-326. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.