Marc Nikitin

The birth of a modern public sector accounting system in France and Britain and the influence of Count Mollien

Under theAncien Régime France, the collection of taxes was a matter entrusted by the King to businessmen. After several unfruitful attempts to exercise greater control over his revenue streams, the King finally introduced reforms in 1788 to both centralise the Treasury and to use double-entry bookkeeping. TheRévolution confirmed this orientation and, after 1815, a modern public sector accounting system was progressively established in order to service the nascent nation. Soon later, Britain also started to rebuild its public sector accounting system and, as will be shown, a mutual French-British influence existed in the building of the national financial systems. Behind these modern public sector accounting systems lies the influential role played by Count Mollien, both in France and Britain.

The development of industrial accounting in Britain and France before 1880: a comparative study of accounting literature and practice1

This paper sets out to examine the development, in Britain and France prior to 1880, of industrial accounting, defined for the purposes of this paper as the practice of cost calculation within an accounting system based on double entry bookkeeping. Similarities and differences between the two countries in regard to the development of an appropriate accounting literature and accounting practice are identified, and various explanations for the findings are explored. A close link is found to exist between the timing of the process of industrialization and the development of industrial accounting in each country, but it is suggested that economic factors alone do not provide a full explanation for the similarities and differences observed.

Can cost and financial accounting be fully re-integrated? The role of the French state in the separation of accounting systems and the failed attempt of the système croisé to re-integrate them

This article questions whether the separation of financial and cost accounting in France is an irreversible trend. We begin by showing that the integration of financial and cost accounting was quite “natural” up until the 1940s. We then show that after that date, State-imposed standardization of financial accounting led to separation of the two types of accounting. Last, we study the efforts of one individual, Jean-Pierre Lagrange, to promote a return to an integrated accounting system in the 1980s by means of his method named the système croisé. His efforts were in vain. In our opinion, this failure was not due to technical reasons, but can be attributed to the interaction of the interests of the main actors. Among these actors, the State played a dominant role in France by standardizing financial accounting. In addition, Lagrange was unable to obtain the backing of a network of allies to spread his accounting system.

International congresses of accountants in the twentieth century: a French perspective

Approximately 40 international congresses of accountants took place between 1889 and 2002. Before World War II, accountants were divided between two international networks: a group of Latin countries and a group led by the USA. Only the latter continued their activity after World War II. From that time onwards, there are two distinct periods: the period 1952–1977 saw ‘the rise’ of the profession to an international level; after 1977, the transformation of networks into permanent organisations (the International Accounting Standards Committee and the International Federation of Accountants) initiated ‘the fall’ of international congresses of accountants, which progressively became mere ‘accounting fairs’. The research method used in this paper involves a critical analysis of congress proceedings, professional journals and interviews.

Charles Eugène Bedaux (1886–1944): ‘cost killer’ or Utopian Socialist?

Charles Eugène Bedaux is best known by social scientists for his labour organisation method. This method was a great success with companies during the interwar years, thus enabling its author to set up a multinational business consultancy. The Bedaux method was, however, violently contested by employees and their unions, who organised many strikes to protest against it. Some of those who knew Bedaux, however, claimed that his method was in reality merely one part of a larger system, a simple component working towards a broader and more generous vision of society (known in French as équivalisme). His project was inspired by the Utopian Socialists of the last century, intended to provide a solution to the widespread disorder experienced by industrial societies during the interwar period. This paper explores the credibility of this project from two perspectives: a critical examination of his biographies and investigations conducted in the places where experiments in ‘equivalism’ were supposedly undertaken.

Le développement contrarié des formations comptables : Échec d'une politique ou politique de l'échec (1974-2004)

Cette etude vise a analyser les causes du developpement limite des formations comptables universitaires de type MSTCF et met en lumiere le role de l’Etat qui a privilegie, dans l’affectation des ressources, les filieres comptables post-bac de l’enseignement secondaire. Elle souligne egalement les limitations inherentes au positionnement des MSTCF dans la structure universitaire, en particulier l’inexistence d’une filiere de premier cycle de gestion et l’insuffisance du recrutement en enseignants chercheurs.

Vingt ans d'histoire de la comptabilité

En depit du titre retenu, ce n’est que durant les dix derniere annees qu’un courant de recherche historique s’est developpe au sein de l’AFC. Present dans ses congres depuis le debut des annees 90, ce theme donne lieu, depuis 1995, a des manifestations annuelles specifiques qui beneficient d’une audience internationale. Favorise par le developpement de l’histoire des entreprises, encourage par le debat epistemologique au sein des sciences de gestion et aiguillonne par l’exemple anglo-americain, cet essor s’est traduit par la constitution d’un large corpus de connaissances. Meme si l’on peut deplorer l’absence de synthese en permettant une diffusion elargie, il temoigne du developpement d’une reelle expertise collective, reconnue par les historiens. L’ensemble constitue un capital precieux dont nous souhaitons qu’il permette le developpement d’etudes historiques plus operationnelles et qu’il contribue a elargir la prise en compte de la dimension historique a l’ensemble des disciplines de la gestion.