Reviewed by Moyra J. Kedslie University of Hull
Between 1885 and 1897, six accounting institutes were formed in Australasia, In Adelaide, later South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Sydney, Tasmania and New Zealand [Brown, pp. 259-261]. The British Society of Incorporated Accountants, endeavoring to pursue an “Empire” policy, in 1886, attempted to become the catalyst for a unified Australian profession but failed in this [Garrett, p. 14]. Several British accountants had emigrated to Australasia and this, combined with the amount of British capital invested in this part of the world, meant that the issue of professional amalgamation was of interest to Britain.
The journey from the formation of individual bodies to that of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia was one plagued by conflict, politics and self-interest. It is not too diffi-cult to accept the desire of Britain to control Australia when it was a colony, but the birth of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 did little to change this paternalistic view. Conflict was also quick to emerge between the six accounting institutes al-though they agreed in principle, in 1901, that the formation of an Australasian institute was desirable [p. 68]. Entwined with the Australasian institutional objective were the efforts to obtain a Royal Charter which were not successful until 1928.
Self-interest was evident in several arenas. First, the Insti-tute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) was anxious to ensure that opportunities for its members over-seas would not be eroded by the existence of an Australasian institute. They commented on the amount of British capital in-vested in the colonies and on the necessity to export British accountants to ensure its proper stewardship [History of the ICAEW, p. 52]. Although the ICAEW was happy to encourage its members to follow British capital to the colonies, it was not happy at the prospect of Australasian accountants invading Britain and employed many of the same arguments that they had employed against the movement of Scottish chartered accountants to London [ibid pp. 124, 125].
Within Australasia, there was dissent between members in public practice and other accountants. This had been dealt with in the UK by excluding from institutional membership all but those in public practice, but exclusion was not a solution that endeared itself to the freedom of the colonies. In addition there was the difficulty of agreeing on a location for the headquarters of a national institute which was exacerbated by the sheer size of Australia and by the desire of each of the institutes to be the focus of activity.
As with other similar moves, the political dimension was also important as were the individuals who played significant roles in the various merger and charter attempts. It is difficult, with hindsight, to understand why some of these individuals become so involved, for such a long period of time, in issues which were of little interest to the general population, but with-out whom the Australian accounting profession might have been somewhat different. Yarwood appears to have played a significant role over many years. Mclachlan entered the arena at a later stage but was also important in sensitive merger negotiations. Others such as H. B. Allard and Howden are revealed as consistently pushing for amalgamation (Appendix 1).
What makes this book different from more traditional his-torical expositions is the explanation, in Chapter 2, of its theo-retical and methodological base which is largely dependent on D. H. Porters’ The Emergence of the Past: A Theory of Historical Explanation [p. 341]. This is returned to in Chapter 8 which attempts to form the link that takes the reader back to the begin-ning. The theoretical chapter is one that is unlikely to appeal to the nonacademic reader who should be encouraged to begin at Chapter 3 where “the story” takes off. In the best academic tra-dition, Poullaos poses more questions than he answers and leaves himself, or others, plenty of scope for further research [pp. 302-305].
This is an extremely well researched book and one that will be of enormous assistance to teachers of accounting history, and their students, for many years. It is probably best read with a copy of the abbreviations in hand to ensure that the reader does not become lost in the multiplicity. Certainly not bed-time reading but well worth persevering with.
REFERENCES
Brown, R., ed., History of Accounting and Accountants, Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C.
Jack (1905). Garrett, A. A., History of the Society of Incorporated Accountants 1885-1957,
Oxford University Press (1961).
