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.