Accountancy and Empire: The British Legacy of Professional Organization

by Chris Poullaos (Editor), Suki Sian (Editor)

Overview

This book brings together, for the first time, studies of the professionalisation of accountancy in key constituent territories of the British Empire. The late nineteenth century was a period of intensive activity in terms of both imperialism and professionalisation. A team of expert contributors has examined profession-state engagements between Britain, on the one hand and Canada, South Africa, Australia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, India and Kenya, and the other with a view to assessing how the organizations of accountancy in the colonies was affecting the metropolitan profession and state agents- and vice versa. Their contributions highlight the peculiarities of the professionalization processes in variant social, economic and political environments linked together by the relays of empire, prompting reflection on both the common and disparate dynamics involved.

This book has numerous objectives, including giving historical insight and focus on countries that provide contrasting and variant examples of the uptake of the "British model", and broadening the appeal of accounting history and professionalisation as a taught subject in university accounting departments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415457712
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/20/2010
Series:	Routledge New Works in Accounting History , #10
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Chris Poullaos is an Associate Professor in Accounting at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has completed a PhD on the professionalization of accountancy in Australia at the University of New South Wales. His subsequent work on the professionalization of accounting in Australia, Britain, Canada, the Phillipines and South Africa has appeared in Abacus, Accounting Organizations and Society, Accounting Auditing and Accountability, Critical Perspectives on Accounting and in several monographs.

Suki Sian is a chartered accountant and holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen and an MSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics. She most recently lectured at Cardiff University, UK, where she was also a member of the Accounting History Group. She was awarded the Vangermeersch Manuscript Award in 2006 for her paper on the professionalization of accountancy in Kenya.

Table of Contents

1. Accountancy and Empire: Setting the Stage Suki Sian and Chris Poullaos 2. The Self-Governing Dominions of South Africa, Australia and Canada and the Evolution of the Imperial Accountancy Arena during the 1920s Chris Poullaos 3. Canada between Empires Alan J. Richardson 4. Colonial Heritage and the Accounting Profession in Nigeria Chibuike U. Uche 5. The Malaysian Accountancy Profession and its Imperial Legacy (1957-1995) Devi S. Susela 6. The Imperial Roots of Accounting Closure: The Case of Sri Lanka P.W. Senerath Yapa 7. Imperialism and Professionalization: The Case of Accountancy in Jamaica Owalabi M. Bakre 8. Maintaining Empire: The Practice Link in Trinidad and Tobago Marcia Annisette 9. The Influence of Empire on the Establishment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) After Independence Shraddha Verma 10. Between the Lines: The Professionalization of Accountancy in Kenya Suki Sian 11. Accountancy and Empire: Connections, Patterns and Suggestions Chris Poullaos and Suki Sian

Editorial Reviews

"As an academic with strong interests in both international accounting and accounting history; a former expatriate English chartered accountant who hasworked in Nigeria (before independence), Australia and Scotland; and a keen reader of the previous writings of editors Chris Poullaos and Suki Sian, I have been looking forward to the publication of this book. It has been worth the wait." — Robert H. Parker, University of Exeter (Accounting, Business & Financial History, Nov 2010)

"This book provides an interesting overview of how professional structures and concepts that were introduced under the rule of the British Empire continued to have an impact after the independence of the countries involved. For scholars who want to understand the current status and organization of the accounting profession in these countries, this book is essential reading." — IGNACE DE BEELDE, Ghent University and Grenoble Ecole de Management (The Accounting Review, 2011)

From the Publisher