Delfina Gomes

Accounting change in central government: The adoption of double entry bookkeeping at the Portuguese Royal Treasury (1761)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to look at the adoption of double entry bookkeeping at the Royal Treasury, Portugal, on its establishment in 1761 and the factors contributing to this development. The Royal Treasury was the first central government organization in Portugal to adopt double entry bookkeeping and was a crucial first step in the institutionalisation of the technique in Portuguese public administration. Design/methodology/approach - Set firmly in the archive, this paper adopts new institutional sociology (NIS) to inform the findings of the local, time-specific accounting policy and practice at the Portuguese Royal Treasury. Findings - Embedded within the broader European context, this study identifies the key pressures exerted upon the Royal Treasury on its formation in 1761, which resulted in major accounting change within Portuguese central government from that date. The study provides further evidence of the importance of the state in the institutionalization of accounting practices by means of coercive pressures and highlights for Portugal the importance of individual actors who, as powerful change agents, made key decisions that influenced accounting change. Originality/value - This study examines a major instance of accounting change in European central government and broadens the application of NIS in accounting history research to a different country – Portugal – and to a different time – the eighteenth century. It also serves to illuminate the difficulties of collecting pertinent evidence pertaining to this long-dated time period in identifying certain forms of institutional pressures.

Does accounting history matter

Building upon panel discussion held at the sixth Accounting History International Conference, a resounding “yes” is offered in response to the question of whether accounting history matters. However, reflecting the viewpoint that accounting history can and should matter more, various suggestions are presented for advancing the quality, relevance and significance of historical research in accounting, commencing with the need to redress persistent misconceptions about the discipline. Practical strategies for enhancing the impact of accounting history scholarship are then developed around the themes of promoting its contemporary relevance and implications, fostering engagement with diverse groups of scholars, writing accounting history in informative and engaging ways, and articulating and developing appropriate methodologies. Finally, the role of accounting historians as “change agents” is explored and advocated.

The interplay of conceptions of accounting and schools of thought in accounting history

Paralleling the advent of different conceptions of accounting in the past two decades or so is the distinction between what are now known as the “traditional” and “new” schools of accounting history research. Viewing accounting as a social practice, as opposed to a mere technical practice, orientates the historical researcher firmly into the arena of the new accounting history, which recognizes the pervasive and enabling characteristics of accounting and gives rise to concerns about studying the implications of accounting change on organizational and social functioning. This literature study examines the interplay of conceptions of accounting with schools of thought in the historical accounting literature. It seeks to enhance an understanding of the underlying connections between the conceptions of accounting embraced by researchers of contemporary accounting and the schools of thought adopted by historical accounting researchers. As the state of play in accounting history research appears to have become a little predictable, certain challenges are identified for accounting historians of the future.

Accounting and accountability in local government: Contributions from accounting history research:

This work provides an analysis of published historical research on accounting and accountability in local government (LG) and in public organizations that have links to LG. Within this context, the study identifies the main themes and trends in this historical research, the extent of adoption of particular theoretical perspectives, the nature of sources examined, the periods of time investigated, and the main contributions of published research on accounting’s past within LG settings. By so doing, this article highlights possible future research topics and makes a call for rigorous and robust research on the development of systems of accounting and accountability in LG around the globe. Such research will recognize that accounting, besides being perceived as a technical practice, is also a social practice, with implications for organizational and social functioning.

CORPORATISM, LIBERALISM AND THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION IN PORTUGAL SINCE 1755

This paper introduces some significant developments in the history of the Portuguese accounting profession. It does so with a view to providing a facilitative foundation of knowledge upon which further analysis and critique can be undertaken. Five developmental periods since 1755 are identified: (i) Corporatist Absolute Monarchy (1755–1820) (ii) Liberal Monarchy (1820–1890) (iii) Waning Liberalism and Rising Corporatism (1891–1926) (iv) Corporatist Dictatorship (1926–1974) and (v) Emerging Liberal Democracy and Neocorporatism (1974 until the present). The accounting professions chequered history is analysed through episodes of regulation and deregulation. These episodes are associated with Portugals pervading social, economic and political context and are dichotomised broadly as either “corporatist” or “liberal”. Relationships between episodes of regulation and periods of “corporatism” are highlighted, together with associations between episodes of de-regulation and periods of “liberalism”. A better und...

The Portuguese School of Commerce, 1759-1844: a reflection of the "Enlightenment"

This paper introduces to the English-language literature the Aula do Coméercio (School of Commerce) which was established in Lisbon in 1759. This school was a product of the Portuguese Enlightenment period and provided a model for development of similar government-sponsored schools across Europe. Our principal objective is to provide a comprehensive description of the school by outlining why it was established, how it operated, what it taught, what effects it had, and why it closed in 1844. It is important to gain an understanding of the School of Commerce because it was an important milestone in the development of commercial education in eighteenth century Europe. The School has attracted considerable notoriety, especially in the Portuguese-language literature, where it is claimed to be the worlds first government-sponsored school to specialise in the teaching of commerce, including accounting.

State intervention in commercial education: the case of the Portuguese School of Commerce, 1759

Prior to the eighteenth century, commercial (including accounting) knowledge was acquired principally from on-the-job training and courses conducted in private schools. However, in eighteenth century Europe, the State began to participate directly in the provision of commercial (including accounting) education through the establishment of public schools of commerce.This article explores changes in commercial education in eighteenth-century Portugal and the role the state played in those changes. It attempts to falsify the claim that the Portuguese School of Commerce, established in Lisbon in 1759, was Europe’s first official, government-sponsored school to offer formal instruction in commerce, including in double-entry bookkeeping. The archival and literature searches conducted, and the various other enquiries we have made are such that we are unable to falsify the claim.The results point to the likelihood that the Portuguese School of Commerce was the first government sponsored business school in Europe.

Accounting and accountability in local government: An introduction

This special issue on Accounting and Accountability in Local Government originates from the observation that, regardless of the vast archives of surviving records of public organizations around the globe, accounting history research has tended to be concentrated on investigations in the private sector. Local government organizations, largely neglected in historical research, were selected for particular attention since these institutions provided and continue to provide structure and order to collective lives. Independently of the geographical location around the globe and their structure, these institutions represent the action of the government at the micro level, thus impacting upon the lives of the governed and the connections between these institutions and other local entities. Accounting and accountability play an important role in the administration and governance of such organizations and, consequently, in the process of ordering activities within local communities. Our call for papers for this special issue sought to stimulate robust and rigorous work on this theme, making use of diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives and encouraging studies from within or across specific countries or regions. The topics advanced in the call for papers included:

Moving from regional to international publishing in accounting history: Pressures, issues, strategies and implications:

As an extension of the Panel session held at the seventh Accounting History International Conference (7AHIC) in Seville in September 2013, the pressures, issues, strategies and implications of the movement from regional to international in terms of publishing in accounting history are presented. These dimensions are analysed from the point of view of four European countries: France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Although these four countries have languages well disseminated around the globe, and/or possess a long history and tradition of discoveries and were strong players in commercial trade for centuries, academic publishing internationally is dominated by Anglo-Saxon countries and journals. Therefore, English is the main language and different challenges and hindrances are faced by researchers whose native language is other than English. More than arguing for a radical move from the regional to the international, a call is made for a more cooperative environment within international accounting history research which takes into account the cultural differences and embraces those differences.

Accounting as a Technology of Government in the Portuguese Empire: The Development, Application and Enforcement of Accounting Rules During the Pombaline Era (1761-1777)

Abstract This study of the interrelations of accounting and the State portrays accounting as a technology of government to effectively enact ‘practical action’ [Snook, S. A. (2000) Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press)] at a distance in the Portuguese Empire. The study examines the development, application and enforcement of accounting rules under Portuguese imperialism in the ‘Pombaline Era’ during the period 1761–1777. These rules, comprising the ‘1761 Law’ and the later applicable accounting ‘Instructions’, were issued by the Royal Treasury, established in 1761, for application throughout the Portuguese Empire. Using the combination of Foucaults concept of governmentality and Snooks theory of ‘practical drift’, the study elucidates how the implementation and evaluation of accounting control systems permitted the Portuguese government to exercise control at a distance, thereby mobilising individuals to pursue its goals for the Empire. The measures taken to enforce conformity with the accounting rules are shown to have been targeted at deterring the phenomenon of practical drift and, therefore, were concerned with avoiding malfunctioning and potential chaos in colonial administration.