Summarized from Various Sources*
Provided by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
History and
Development Main Page |
The Accounting Historians Journal
Although most of the events and publications listed below are related specifically to accounting, a number of publications related to management and behavioral issues are included since management accounting is (or should be) mainly driven by management theory and practice. This time-line could be used as the basis for a short or a long course on accounting history, or as a reference source for accounting events. I suspect most accounting students get very little exposure to accounting history. This resource is offered to help alleviate that problem.
1812: Accounting historians place the origin of management accounting around 1812. Around this time, textile mills began to perform many processes inside the organization that had previously been performed outside the company by independent craftsmen. See H. T. Johnson and R. S. Kaplan, 1987, Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting. Harvard Business School Press: Chapter 2. (MAAW's Relevance Lost section); Johnson, H. T. 1983. The search for gain in markets and firms: A review of the historical emergence of management accounting systems. Accounting, Organizations and Society 8(2-3): 139-146. (Summary); Chandler, A. D. 1977. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; and Porter, D. M. 1980. The Waltham system and early American textile cost accounting 1813-1848. The Accounting Historians Journal 7(1): 1-15.
1817: Payen (France) wrote a book on cost accounting.
1818: John Bennett conducted double entry bookkeeping instruction in New York.
1854: Colburn's Railroad Advocate urged the recognition of depreciation by "setting aside sums each year to cover the replacement."
1861: The first income tax law in the U.S. was passed during the Civil War.
1878: Thomas Edison set up the Edison Electric Light Company. The company evolved into the Edison General Electric Company.
1881: After 1880, predetermined standard rates were developed using time and motion study for labor and a bill of materials for raw materials.
Joseph Wharton established the first American collegiate school of business that later became part of the University of Pennsylvania.
1882: The Institute of Accountants & Bookkeepers was formed in New York.
1883: The accounting firm of Barrow, Wade, & Guthrie was founded in New York. An accounting course was offered at the Wharton School of Finance & Commerce.
1885: The Society of Incorporated Accountants and auditors registered under the Companies Act of 1885.
1887: The American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA) is created. Issues certificates based on experience. The comptometer is patented.
1889: Norton, G. P. 1889. Textile-Manufacturers' Bookkeeping for the Counting House, Mill and Warehouse. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent.
1890: Carter, F. H. 1890. Practical Book-keeping Adapted to Commercial and Judicial Accounting: With Sets of Books and Accounts. Bell & Bradfutte.
1891: The accounting firms Price Waterhouse & Company, and Barrow, Wade, & Guthrie established Offices in Chicago.
1892: The Edison General Electric Company merged with Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form the General Electric Company.
1894: The AAPA passes a resolution advancing its first standard - related to the balance sheet.
1895: The accounting firm Haskins & Sells was founded in New York.
1896: New York Governor L. P. Morton signs the first CPA bill into law.
The title C.P.A. was to be obtained by professional examination administered by New York University.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is introduced at 40.94 tracking the dollar average of 12 stocks.
Flesher, D. L., G. J. Previts and T. K. Flesher. 1996. Profiling the new industrial professionals: The first CPAs of 1896-97. Business and Economic History 25(1): 252-266.
1897: The first State Society of CPAs was founded in New York.
1899: Christine Ross becomes the first female CPA.
Nichols, W. G. 1899. Methods of Cost Finding in
Cotton Mills. E. L. Barry.
Neal, E. V. 1899. Modern Banking and Bank Accounting:
Containing a Complete Exposition on the Most Approved Methods of Bank
Accounting, Designed as a Text Book... Williams & Rogers.
1900: The average American weekly wage is $9.30.
Eastman Kodak Company introduces the Brownie box camera.
1901: The Incorporated Public Accountants of
Massachusetts attempts to establish and maintain the Incorporated Public
Accountant or I.P.A. designation.
Bookkeeper Publishing Co. 1901. Accounting
Systems for the Wholesale Grocery and Hardware Business. The
Bookkeeper Publishing Company. Bookkeeper Publishing Co. 1901. Retail
Accounting: A text book for the use of book-keepers who keep the accounts of
retail business, with special attention to the requirements of general stores,
drug stores, bakeries, creameries and ice businesses. The Book-Keeper
Publishing Company.
Macpherson, F. H. 1901. Municipal Accounting:
A comprehensive Treatise on the Subject of Municipal Accounts... The
Book-keeper Publishing Company.
1902: The firm of Lybrand, Ross Bros., & Montgomery was formed in New York.
The Federation of Societies of Public Accountants was formed in the U.S.
U.S. Steel issued the first consolidated balance sheet.
The firm of Ernst & Ernst was formed in Cleveland.
Arnold, H. L. 1902. Cost finding methods for moderate sized shops. Engineering Magazine (December): 385-395.
Sweetland, C. A. 1902. The Science of Loose Leaf Book-keeping and Accounting. C. A. Sweetland.
1903: Du Pont Powder Company is
founded, developed a centralized accounting system and began using return
on investment. See the Relevance
Lost Chapter 4 summary.
Take a look at the du
Pont Estates.
Ford Motor Company is formed.
The Wright brothers make their first flight.
Dicksee, L. R. and J. E. G. De Montmorency. 1903. Advanced
accounting. Gee & Co.
Moore, J. H. and G. W. Miner. 1903. Accounting and
Business Practice. Ginn & Company.
1904: The first International
Congress of Accountants was held in St. Louis.
Cost accounting was being taught in the University of
Pennsylvania and New York University.
Broaker, F. 1904. Technique of accountics. F. Broaker.
Bookkeeper Publishing Co. 1904. The American
Business and Accounting Encyclopaedia: A Standard Reference Work for Business
Men and Accountants profusely Illustrated... The Book-Keeper Publishing
Company.
1905: The Federation of Societies of
Public Accountants merges with the American Association of Public
Accountants.
The first issue of the Journal of
Accountancy is published based on an earlier journal of the Illinois Society
of CPAs, The Auditor.
Journal of Accountancy. 1905. Pennsylvania
C. P. A. Examination questions. Journal of Accountancy
(December): 169-176. (See Rorer, W. W. 1905 JOA (December): 176-180 for
solutions).
The Interstate Commerce Commission seeks to set up a uniform
system of accounting for railroads.
Hawkins, L. W. 1905. Cost accounts: An
explanation of principles and a guide to practice. Gee & Co.
Mackay, J. S., E. Boyd, J. R. Fogo, A. Sloan and J. Patrick.
1905. A history of accounting and accountants. T. C. & E. C. Jack.
Rahill, J. J. and A. G. Platt. 1905. Corporation Accounting
and Corporation Law: A Manual of Corporate Organization and Management:
Accounting in Theory and Practice: Banking, with Special Reference to the
National Banking System, and a Treatise on Stock Exchanges. The Author.
1906: The U.S. Census Bureau
calls a conference on uniform municipal accounting adopting a tentative
schedule of standard accounts.
A committee of the American Association of Public
Accountants (AAPA) is appointed to help the Federal Keep Commission
introduce business methods into government.
The AAPA forms a committee to
create ethics standards for its members.
The Accountant, Volume 35. 1906. Lafferty Publications.
1907: The Treasury Department
changed from single entry to double entry bookkeeping.
Sprague wrote The Philosophy of Accounts and 19
chapters are published in various issues of the Journal of Accountancy. Sprague, C. E. 1972. The
Philosophy of Accounts. Scholars Book Co. Reprint
of the 1908 edition. Review by G. J. Previts. 1974. TAR (January): 216-217.
1908: Cole wrote Accounts -
Their Construction and Interpretation. The "Where got - Where
gone" statement was introduced.
Church, A. H. 1908. The Proper
Distribution of Expense Burden. The Engineering Magazine Co.
Harvard Business School was founded. "With a grant of $12,500 a year for five years from the Rockefeller Foundation and with an equal sum secured by Professor Taussig from friends of the cause, the Corporation was enabled on March 30, 1908, to establish the Graduate School of Business Administration. ($12,500 was equivalent to approximately $340,192 in 2018. See westegg.com/inflation/) It opened its doors to students in September, 1908." ... "Yet there still remained many skeptics among business men. There were some few who voiced their belief that the only training for business was acquired at a tender age with a broom on an office or factory floor. There were some others who liked to employ college men but only after someone else had "broken them in." A number conceded that a collegiate business school might impart some useful knowledge but it could not train executives. Business executives, we were told like Michel Angelos and Shakespeares are born, not made." Gay, E. F. 1927. The founding of the Harvard Business School. Harvard Business Review (July): 397-400.
Bentley, H. C. and T. Conyngton. 1908. Corporate
finance and accounting: Treating of the corporate finances and securities; the
corporate books of account; reports; negotiable instruments; and the powers,
duties and relations of the corporation treasures, with forms. The Ronald
Press.
Day, C. M. 1908. Accounting Practice. Appleton.
Ford introduces the Model T.
1909: A first U.S. corporation excise tax is levied on
corporate income.
Charles Kettering invents an accounting machine for
the National Cash Register Company.
Henry Rand Hatfield wrote Modern Accounting: Its
Principles and Some of Its Problems. See the Accounting Hall of Fame
section for more on Hatfield.
Bexell, J. A. 1909. Farm Accounting and Business Methods. The Home Correspondence School.
The most expensive item in the Sears, Roebuck catalog
is a piano listed at $138.
1910: Cole, W. M. 1910. Accounting and Auditing. Cree Publishing Company.
Church, A. H. 1910. Organisation by production factors. Engineering Magazine (April): 79-80.
Hamilton Church and others were using accounting to evaluate the overall profitability of the firm. Church's idea was to trace cost to individual products. This meant linking overhead cost to individual products.
In 1910 the average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The average U.S. wage was 22 cents per hour. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year (That's about $54,430.73 in 2018 dollars). More than 95 percent of all births took place at home. Ninety percent of all Doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as 'substandard.' Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. The five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza, 2. Tuberculosis, 3. Diarrhea, 4. Heart disease, 5. Stroke. The American flag had 45 stars. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30. Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health'. Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the U.S. (Source unknown).
1911: Bunnell, S. H. 1911. Cost-Keeping for
Manufacturing Plants. D. Appleton and Company.
Evans, H. A. 1911. Cost Keeping and Scientific
Management. McGraw-Hill.
Moxey, E. P. Jr. 1911. Accounting Systems: A description of
systems appropriate to different kinds of business. Alexander Hamilton
Institute.
Taylor, F. W. 1911. The Principles of Scientific Management.
Harper Brothers. Taylor, F. W. 2008. The Principles of Scientific Management.
Forgotten Books.
The Supreme Court breaks up Standard Oil.
1912: Keister, D. A. and H. C. White. 1912. Keister's Corporation
Accounting and Auditing: A Practical Treatise on Higher Accounting... The
Burrows Brothers Company.
Bennett, R. J. 1913.
Pennsylvania C.P.A. examinations of November, 1912. Journal of Accountancy
(March): 198-230.
Bennett, R. J. and D.
Henderson. 1913. Pennsylvania C.P.A. examinations of November, 1912. Journal of Accountancy
(April): 273-301.
Esquerre, P. J. 1912. New York C.P.A. examinations of June, 1912. Journal of Accountancy
(August): 77-98,
(September): 192-210 and (October): 310-321.
The Radio Act is passed to regulate broadcasting.
1913: The Federal Reserve banking system is created.
The 16th Amendment is ratified permitting federal income tax.
Montgomery, R. H. 1913. Auditing Theory and
Practice. The Ronald Press Company.
Moxey, E. P., H. D. Greeley, H. M. Jefferson and O. A. Grundman. 1913. Practical accounting methods: A description of systems
appropriate to various kinds of business. Key.
Stewart, E. 1913. Tannery production costs and
methods of accounting. Rogers & Atwood Publishing Co.
Arthur Andersen and Clarence DeLany found Andersen, DeLany & Company. It becomes Andersen & Co. after DeLany leaves.
1914: The Federal Trade Commission and
General Accounting Office are created.
The Federal Trade Commission increases government focus on
private-sector audits, promotes official standards and independent
audits.
World War I began and lasted until 1918.
Church, A. H. 1914. The Science and
Practice of Management. New York: The Engineering Magazine Company.
Booz forms a management consulting firm that becomes
Booz, Fry, Allen, and Hamilton in 1936.
Hutchinson, J. H. 1914. School Costs and
School Accounting. Columbia University.
Jackson, H. A. 1914. Better store system and
department accounting: A system for departmentizing a store, or for department
stores. Press of the Grinnell Herald Publishing Co.
Johnson, J. F. 1914. Modern Business: Accounting Practice.
Alexander Hamilton Institute.
Johnson, J. F., L. Greendlinger and J. W. Schulze. 1914. Accounting
Practice: A comprehensive statement of accounting principles and methods,
illustrated by modern forms and problems. Alexander Hamilton Institute.
1915: Baugh, F. H. 1915. Principles and Practice of
Cost Accounting for Accountants, Manufacturers, Mechanical Engineers, Teachers
and Students. F. H. Baugh.
Klein, J. J. 1915. Student's handbook of accounting:
Solutions to questions in theory of accounts, practical accounting, and auditing
contained in elements of accounting for the use of teachers, students and
practicing accountants. D. Appleton and Company.
Gantt, H. L. 1994. The relation between production and
costs. Journal of Cost Management (Spring): 4-11. (This is a
presentation Gantt made in 1915). (Summary).
1916: The AAPA changes its name to the
American Institute of Accountants (AIA).
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Business is founded.
The American Association of University Instructors of Accounting is founded in Ohio.
Annual membership dues were $3.00.
The first estate tax was enacted.
Knoeppel, F. J. 1916. Industrial accounting I. Journal of Accountancy
(June): 431-440. "The subject is
presented under nineteen groups: A. Composition of wage payroll; B.
Composition of salary payroll, C. Sub-division of non-productive or
expense payroll; D. Exhibit of labor and burden applied on production,
betterments and maintenance; E. Consumption of factory supplies; F.
Incidental factory expense; G. Specific utilization of service cost; H.
General utilization of service cost; I. Review of departmental
accomplishment; J. Significance of productivity; K. Exhibit of total cost
applied on production, betterments and maintenance; L. Review of
conditions and tendencies; M. Exhibit of resources, liabilities, net
investment and earnings; N. Exhibit of applied cost on unfinished work on
floors; O. Exhibit of applied cost on partly completed work; P. Review of
completed contracts; Q. Status of betterments; R. Variation in material
cost; S. Consumption of raw and prepared materials." Knoeppel, F. J.
1916. Industrial accounting I. JOA (June): 432.
Willis, H. P. 1916. The principles of accounting. La
Salle Extension University.
Fayol argues for chains of command, the separation of functions, and the importance of planning in Fayol, H. 1916. Administration Industrielle et Generate. Fayol, H. 1930. Industrial and General Administration. Translated from French by J. A. Coubrough. Pitman. Fayol is viewed as the father of the management process school of management theory. See Koontz, H. 1961. The management theory jungle. The Journal of the Academy of Management 4(3): 174-188. (Summary)
1917: The AIA approves eight rules of professional conduct and provides
state boards with a written test for accountants.
An AIA project named "Uniform Accounting" was
published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin - provided authoritative
guidance related to the income statement.
The first AIA examination is given.
The Revenue Act of 1917 imposed the first excess
profits tax.
Thompson, C. B. 1917. The Theory and Practice of
Scientific Management. Houghton Mifflin.
Kester, R. B. 1917. Accounting Theory and Practice, Volume
1. The Ronald Press Company.
May, I. A. 1917. Street Railway Accounting: A
Manual of Operating Practice for Electric Railways. The Ronald Press
Company.
Madden, J. T. 1917. Accounting Practice and
Auditing. Alexander Hamilton Institute.
Sikes, C. S. 1917. Railway Accounting, Volume 1. La
Salle Extension University.
1918: Basset, W. R. 1918. Accounting as an aid to
business profits. A. W. Shaw Co.
Kent, W. 1918. Bookkeeping and Cost Accounting for
Factories. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Rittenhouse, C. F. and P. F. Clapp. 1918. Accounting theory
and practice, Volume 1. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Scovill, H. T. 1918. Farm Accounting. D. Appleton and
Company.
United Typothetae of America. 1918. Treatise on the
Standard Accounting System for Printers: To be used with the Standard Cost
Finding System with which it Interlocks. United Typothetae of America.
Variance analysis developed around 1900. The
first published equations were in books by Harrison and Emerson in 1918.
See Relevance Lost p. 51 and Harrison, G.
C. 1918. Cost accounting to aid production. The Engineering
Magazine Co.
1919: The National Association
of Cost Accountants is formed in Buffalo, New York and the first issue of the National
Association of Cost Accountants Official Publications is published. The
title was changed to the N.A.C.A.
Bulletin in 1925, N.A.A.
Bulletin in 1957, Management
Accounting in 1965, and Strategic
Finance in 1999. The N.A.C.A. became the National Association of
Accountants in 1957, and the Institute of Management Accountants in
1991.
Beta Alpha Psi is
formed at the University of Illnois.
Littleton, A. C. 1919. An Introduction to
Elementary Accounting. South-Western Publishing Co.
The Federal Power Commission Act introduced regulatory
accounting.
Nicholson, J. L. and J. F. D. Rohrbach. 1919. Cost Accounting. Ronald Press Co.
1920: Hoover, S. R. 1920. Bookkeeping and accounting
practice: The Hoover system of modern bookkeeping - easy to learn and practical
to use. A. W. Shaw Company.
Sherwood, J. F. 1920. Public Accounting and Auditing.
South-Western Publishing Co.
Harvard Business School introduces the case method of
teaching.
The 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote.
Ford River Rouge Plant created mass production without
variety. See Johnson, H. T. and A. Broms. 2000. Profit Beyond Measure:
Extraordinary Results Through Attention to Work and People. New
York: The Free Press. (Summary
and some graphic
illustrations).
1921: The first Accountant's Index is published. Contains 1,578 pages.
John Cromwell become the first black CPA.
New Mexico passes CPA legislation, the last state to
do so.
The American Society of Certified Public Accountants
is founded in Washington.
The Federal Budget and Accounting Act passes creating
the General Accounting Office. Today it's called the Government
Accountability Office and The Office of Management and Budget.
The Revenue Act of 1921 permitted the use of the lower
of cost or market as a means of pricing inventory.
DuPont developed a multidivisional structure.
Harrison, G. C. 1921. Cost Accounting To Aid
Production: A Practical Study of Scientific Cost Accounting. The Engineering
Magazine Company.
Newlove, G. H. 1921. C. P. A. Accounting: Theory,
Questions, and Problems, Volume 2. Association Press.
Reeve, F. E. and F. C. Russell. 1921. Accounting principles.
Alexander Hamilton Institute.
1922: The AIA bans contingent fees and
most advertising by public accountants and their firms. The ban on
advertising lasted until 1978.
The Puerto Rico Institute of Accountants was formed.
Borsodi, R. 1922. The New Accounting:
Bookkeeping without books of original entry by use of a natural system of double
entry bookkeeping. Dodd, Mead and Company.
Koehler, T. 1922. The Accounting Quiz-answerer.
The Tri-service Accounting Corporation.
Powelson, J. A. 1922. General accounting, Volume 2.
Syracuse Extension Institute of Accountancy, Inc.
Rittenhouse, C. F. and A. L. Percy. 1922. Accounting
Problems: Intermediate. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Wildman, J. R. 1922. Principles of accounting.
New York University Book Store.
First issue of Harvard
Business Review is published. Wallace Donham discussed the issue
of how a proper theory of business is to be obtained.
1923: The District of Columbia,
Alaska, and Hawaii pass CPA laws.
Clark, J. M. 1981. Studies in Economics of Overhead Costs. The University of Chicago Press. Reprint of Clark's 1923
publication. (For a review of this book, see Davidson, S. 1963. Old
wine into new bottles. The Accounting Review (April): 278-284. Frank, W. G. 1990. Back to the future: A retrospective view of
J. Maurice Clark's Studies In The Economics of Overhead Costs. Journal of
Management Accounting Research (2): 155-166. (Summary).
J. M. Clark wrote about separating fixed and variable
cost using statistical analysis. He
developed the idea of "different cost for different purposes"
and identified ten functions of cost accounting. These included
providing information for determining: 1. Satisfactory prices, 2.
Minimum prices, 3. Which products were profitable, 4. Inventory control,
5. Inventory values (one of ten, as opposed to the only one), 6. Process
efficiency, 7. Department efficiency, 8. Losses, wastes & pilfering,
9. Product cost separate from idle capacity cost and 10. Tie in with
financial accounts. Clark argued against having the concepts of
consistency, objectivity and auditability control cost management
information. He recommended a separate system for cost management.
Sanders, T. H. 1923.
Present status of uniform cost accounting. Harvard Business Review
(January): 167-174.
The American Management Association is founded.
1924: The Board of Tax Appeals
was established by the Revenue Act of 1924.
The Hawthorne studies began at Western Electric's
Hawthorne plant in Cicero, Illinois and lasted until 1932. They turned
the lights up and productivity improved. They turned the lights down and
productivity improved. The workers liked the attention.
The case study method is established as the primary
method of teaching at Harvard Business School.
1926: The first issue of The
Accounting Review is published. The first editor was William A. Paton.
The Revenue Act of 1926 provided a special method of
reporting income from installment sales.
Congress passes the Railway Labor Act that requires
employers to bargain with the unions.
1927: General Electric offered a Business Training Course (BTC) emphasizing accounting topics. This later became the Financial Management Program (FMP). See TrainingPrograms.htm for the FMP and other training programs for accounting graduates.
1928: New York passed a law
requiring a CPA candidate to be a college graduate to sit for the exam
after January 1, 1938.
The first TV program is broadcast in the U.S.
1929: The stock market crashes and the
great depression begins.
americanexperience/films/crash
The Dow didn't recover until 1954.
The AIA set rules of professional conduct.
Kodak invented the color movie.
1930: The NACA "Topical
Index" was published.
The residual income concept is attributed to General Electric circa 1930.
1931: The Ultramares case defines the
accountants' liability in cases of negligence and fraud.
The first chapter of the Controllers' Institute was
established in New York.
The first issue of the Bulletin of the New York State Society of
Certified Public Accountants was published. The publication became
The
CPA Journal in 1971 after several name changes.
Scott, DR. 1931. The Cultural Significance of Accounts.
Scholars Book Co. Reprint by Henry Holt & Co. Review by L. J. Benninger.
The National Unemployed Council is formed.
1932: The New York Stock Exchange
requires listed companies to have audits.
The Revenue Act of 1932 imposes a gift tax.
Ivar Kreuger dies and his pyramid stock swindle is uncovered.
The
Dow hits its lowest point ever at 41.22.
1933: The American Woman's Society of
CPAs is founded. A survey finds 105 female CPAs.
The New Deal brings extensive banking regulations, federal
programs requiring accounting oversight, independent audits and limits
to accountants' control over standards.
The
Securities Act of 1933 passes and compelled the disclosure of pertinent
information concerning securities publicly offered and sold in
interstate trade or through the mails.
The FDIC
is created.
A worksheet approach to profit analysis appears in Kerrigan, H. D. 1937. Analysis of variation from
gross profit. The Accounting Review (December): 429-432. Attributed to a similar illustration in Taylor, J. B. and H. C.
Miller. 1933. Intermediate Accounting I. McGraw-Hill. See MAAW's Profit
Analysis section for more information.
Edwin
Armstrong invents the FM radio.
The Gold standard is abandoned in the U.S.
1934: The New York Stock Exchange
requests the AIA's advice on financial statement formats.
The Securities Act of 1934 passes. The Securities and Exchange Commission is
created to regulate financial markets. Carman Blough is appointed SEC
Chief Accountant.
The Federal Communications Commission is established.
The National Committee on Municipal Accounting was
formed.
1935: The Social Security Act
was enacted establishing payroll deductions by employer and employee.
Roosevelt signs it.
The Public Utility Holding Company Act was passed.
1936: The American Society of Certified
Public Accountants merges with the AIA.
First use of the phrase "generally accepted accounting
principles" appears in an AIA report "Examination of Financial
Statements".
The American Association of University Instructors of
Accounting was renamed the American Accounting
Association (AAA).
American Accounting Association. 1936. A statement of
objectives of the American Accounting Association. The Accounting
Review (March): 1-4.
The AAA's Tentative Statement of
Accounting Principles Underlying Corporate Financial Statements was
published.
The Robinson-Patman Act was passed
and prohibited discriminatory pricing.
Sweeney, H. W. 1936. Stabilized
Accounting. Harper & Brothers, and Holt Rinehart and Winston. Review
by D. A. Corbin.
Keynes
argues that in times of crisis the state must intervene to create demand
and jobs. Keynes, J. M. 1936. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
Wright, T. P. 1936. Learning curve. Journal of
the Aeronautical Sciences (February). Also see Liao, S. S. 1988. The learning curve: Wright's model vs. Crawford's model.
Issues in Accounting Education (Fall): 302-315. (Summary).
Kiichiro Toyoda changes his company's name to Toyota.
The Japanese characters convey speed.
1937: The SEC issued its first
accounting release.
A minimum wage for women is established in the U.S.
The first monograph published by the AAA was Principles of Public-Utility
Depreciation by Perry Mason.
Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence
People is published.
1938: The Institute's Committee on
Accounting Procedure (CAP) becomes the first U.S. accounting standard
setting body in the private sector.
Carman Blough, Chief accountant of the SEC obtains support from
the Commission to promulgate Accounting Series Release No. 4 recognizing
the role of the private sector in establishing principles with
substantial authoritative support.
The Fair Labor Standards Act established the
forty-hour week and the minimum wage at $0.25 per hour. The act banned
child labor and required detailed payroll
records be kept for five years. See the following wikipedia page for the
history of the minimum wage:
List_of_U.S._minimum_wages
Sanders, T. H., H. R. Hatfield and U. Moore. 1938. A Statement of Accounting Principles.
American Accounting Association.
Barnard, C. I. 1938. The Functions of the Executive.
Harvard University Press. The 30th Anniversary edition was published in
1971.
Barnard argued that companies were cooperative systems. Barnard is
viewed as the spiritual father of the social system school of
management. See Koontz, H. 1961. The management theory jungle. The
Journal of the Academy of Management 4(3): 174-188. (Summary).
1939: The AIA's Committee on Accounting
Procedure (CAP) publishes the first Accounting Research Bulletin.
After the McKesson and Robbins fraud case the AIA sets up a
standing committee on generally accepted auditing standards. The SEC's
investigation revealed that the auditors had not confirmed accounts
receivable or verified the existence of inventory.
Federal tax statutes are codified as the Internal Revenue Code.
The Revenue Act of 1939 permitted the use of the LIFO
cost flow method of inventory costing.
The Institute of Internal Auditors is formed.
Iowa professor John Atanasoff designs the first working model
of an electronic digital computer using vacuum tubes.
Hewlett-Packard is founded. See the Computer History Museum for a timeline of computer history 1939-1994.
1940: The American Accounting Association
published William Paton and A. C. Littleton's Introduction to Corporate
Accounting Standards. This establishes historical cost valuation and the
matching principle (cost attach idea) in the accounting literature.
The Second Revenue Act of 1940 introduced an excess
profits tax.
1941: Wartime wage and price controls
require extensive cost calculations.
Excess profits taxes are levied. Rate are as high as 95%.
The Institute of Internal Auditors is formed. AAA revised its 1936 Statement of Accounting
Principles Underlying Corporate Financial Statements.
The U.S. enters World War II.
1942: The Board of Tax Appeals
was changed to the Tax Court of the United States.
Price controls were enacted.
1943: The U.S. begins income tax
withholding.
Mary T. Washington Wylie became the first African-American CPA. She opened
an accounting firm in her basement in 1939. She died in 2015 at 99.
Maslow, A. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological
Review (50): 370-396. Maslow explores what motivates people.
May, G. O. 1953. Financial Accounting: A Distillation of
Experience. The Macmillan Company. For a note on this book see the annotated
bibliography in Rappaport, A. 1965. Seminar
research on uniformity. The Accounting Review (July): 643-648.
1944: The National Conference
of Lawyers and Certified Public Accountants was formed to foster better
relationships between the professions.
The GI Bill is passed.
IBM produces the first large-scale computer, the Mark
1. It was fifty feet long, eight feet high and weighed nearly five
tons.
The World Bank is established at the Bretton Woods
conference.
1945: The GAO Corporate Audits Division
is created to oversee government audits and names T. Coleman Andrews as
its first head.
The excess profits tax was removed.
During the period from 1941-1945 IBM produces more
than 5,000 accounting machines used in Washington for military
logistics. IBM also creates the W-2 form and the equipment to track
withheld taxes.
The George bill provided for comprehensive audits of
government corporations. The Corporate Audits Division of the General
Accounting Office was formed.
Walmart is established in Newport, Arkansas.
1946: The American Institute of
Accountants published Contemporary Accounting.
Drucker, P. F. 1946. Concept of the Corporation.
Transaction Publishers. Reprinted in 1993. Drucker viewed the
corporation as a social institution or network where everyone involved
should be respected.
The first electronic digital computer is introduced,
the ENIAC.
1947: The Taft-Hartley Labor
Management Relations Act passed and required labor unions to prepare
financial statements.
The American Institute of Accountants began to publish
Case Studies on Auditing Procedure.
Garner, S. P. 1947.
Historical development of cost accounting. The Accounting Review
(October): 385-389.
Simon,
H. A. 1947. Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision Making
Processes in Administrative Organization. Free Press. The 3rd
edition was published in 1976. Simon discusses the concept of
"bounded rationality" in decision making.
Max
Weber's Theory of Social and Economic Organization is published.
1948: The National Committee on
Municipal Accounting is reactivated and renamed the National Committee
on Government Accounting. It publishes 18 pronouncements on state and
local accounting over the next 20 years.
The
AAA issued Accounting Concepts and Standards
Underlying Corporate Financial Statements, and a tentative statement
of the fundamental concepts of cost accounting.
The AIA began publishing their annual surveys of
corporate reports and Statements on Auditing Procedure No. 23 relative
to the accountant's opinion.
The Institute of Internal Auditors issued Responsibilities
of the Internal Auditor.
1949: The first AAA Regional meeting was the Southeastern Region held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA.
1950: The Accounting Hall of Fame is
established at The Ohio State University.
Another excess profits tax was enacted.
William Vatter's (University of Chicago) managerial
accounting textbook was published in paperback. Vatter emphasized
providing relevant information for management. He had six
chapters on budgeting and control.
Vatter strongly advocated different cost for different purposes
following the ideas of J. M. Clark. He recognized that management needed
more timely information. Financial statements were too late. Timely
information was more important than complete information. Vatter
recommended two systems since the needs of internal and external users
are different. He emphasized a key idea: Management accounting had to
serve management, not accountants.
1951: The first fully
electronic computers are used in England. The UNIVAC 1 is delivered to
the Census Bureau and some large corporations.
The SEC extensively revised Regulation S-X.
The Federal Government Accountants Association was
formed.
Dean, J. 1951. Capital Budgeting. New York: Columbia University Press.
Juran, J. M. 1951. Quality Control Handbook.
McGraw-Hill.
1953: The CAP publishes the first
codification of GAAP in Accounting Research Bulletin No. 43.
Thomas Coleman Andrews is the first CPA to head the Internal
Revenue Service.
1954: Garner, S. P. 1954. Evolution of Cost Accounting to 1925.
Tuscaloosa, AL. University of Alabama Press.
Doyle, L. A. 1954. Overhead accounting comes full
circle. N.A.C.A. Bulletin
(August): 1575-1585. "Cost accounting
developed, in large part, because managers and owners found that material
and labor costs alone, about which they had independent awareness, were
inadequate guides to pricing and control. However, if the growing
importance of overhead costs was what created modern cost accounting (and
cost accountants), is it now behaving as a Frankenstein monster? The
evidence is persuasive. Having been created by overhead costs, the cost
accountants are now turning on their creator and are destroying it. And
how are they doing it? by direct costing of all things!" L. A. Doyle.
1954.
First issue of Management
Science is published.
Drucker, P. F. 1954. The Practice of Management.
HarperBusiness. Reissued in 2006.
Lawrence, P. R. 1954. How to Deal with Resistance
to Change. Harvard Business Review.
Huff, D. and I. Geis. 1954. How to Lie With Statistics. W. W. Norton & Company.
1955: Katzenmeyer, R. G. 1955. Cost accounting context of seventeen A. I. A. "theory of account" examinations. The Accounting Review (October): 694-701.
1956: Chambers, R. J. 1956. Some
observations on "Structure of accounting theory". The Accounting Review
(October): 584-592.
Andrews (See 1953 above) ran for President as a
third-party candidate in 1956. Eisenhower was reelected.
The Commission on Standards of Education and Experience for
CPAs recommends a five-year accounting degree as qualification to become
a CPA (The Perry Report).
First issue of Administrative
Science Quarterly is published.
1957: The first computer time-sharing systems were developed.
The American Institute of
Accountants (AIA) becomes the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA).
The first issue of the N.A.A.
Bulletin is published.
Factory wages average $83 per week.
1958: First issue of The
Journal of the Academy of Management is published. Now The
Academy of Management Journal.
March, J. G. and H. A. Simon. 1958. Organizations. New
York: John Wiley. March and Simon are associated with the social system
school of management. See Koontz, H. 1961. The management theory jungle.
The Journal of the Academy of Management 4(3): 174-188. (Summary).
1959: The Accounting Principles Board
replaces the CAP as the Institute's authoritative financial accounting body.
The Special Coordinating Committee to Study the Report of the
AICPA Commission on Standards of Education and Experience for CPAs
recommends a five-year education requirement for CPA certification. This
recommendation is endorsed by the AICPA council.
Herzberg,
F., B. Mausner and B. B. Snyderman. 1959. The Motivation to Work.
John Wiley & Sons.
1960: Residual Income was
developed in the 1960's, apparently by General Electric, to overcome the
behavioral problem attributed to ROI of management under investment.
First issue of Industrial Management Review is
published. Now MIT
Sloan Management Review.
McGregor's The X and Theory Y. McGregor
,
D. 1960. The Human Side of Enterprise:
25th Anniversary Printing. McGraw Hill. (Summary).
Levitt, T. 2004. Marketing myopia: Sustained growth
depends on how broadly you define your business - and how carefully you
gauge your customer's needs. Harvard Business Review
(July/August): 138-149. (Reprint of Levitt's 1960 HBR article).
1961: Blough, C. G. 1961. Principles and procedures. Journal
of Accountancy (April): 51-53. For a note on this paper see the annotated
bibliography in Rappaport, A. 1965. Seminar research on uniformity. The Accounting Review (July): 643-648.
Edwards, E. O. and P. W. Bell. 1961. The Theory and Measurement of Business Income.
Review by W. J. Schlatter. For a discussion of this book, see Chambers, R. J. 1965. Edwards
and Bell on business income. The Accounting Review
(October): 731-741. Also see Revsine, L. 1981. The theory and measurement of business income: A review Article. The Accounting Review
(April): 342-354.
Moonitz, M. 1961. The Basic Postulates of Accounting, Accounting Research Study No. 1. AICPA.
The minimum wage is set at $1.25 per hour. See 1938 above for a link to the history of the minimum wage.
1962: APB Opinion No. 2 is issued to
defer the new investment tax credits effects on income statements.
Horngren's first edition of Cost Accounting: A
Managerial Emphasis is published.
Horngren, C. T. 1962. Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis. Prentice Hall.
Review by E. Enke.
Chandler, A. D. 1962. Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Controllers Institute. 1962. CIA becomes FEI. The
Controller (May): 228. (Distinguishes between Controllership
and Treasureship functions).
The first issue of CFO
Magazine is published.
The Dartmouth Time-Sharing System was the first
large-scale time sharing system to be implemented successfully.
Dartmouth_Time_Sharing_System
Many other time-sharing systems were developed during
the 1960s. See the Wikipedia section and associated references:
wiki/Time-sharing
1963: First issue of the Journal
of Accounting Research is published.
Cyert, R. and J. March. 1963. Behavioral Theory of the Firm.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Moonitz, M. 1963. Why do we need postulates and principles? Journal
of Accountancy (December): 42-46. For a note on this paper see the annotated
bibliography in Rappaport, A. 1965. Seminar
research on uniformity. The Accounting Review (July): 643-648.
1964: The SEC indicates that companies need not implement APB No 2.
Robert Anthony developed a framework for understanding the planning and control functions: Strategic Planning -
establishing overall objectives and policies. Management Control -
monitoring overall efficiency and effectiveness. Operational Control -
monitoring specific process efficiency and effectiveness. (See Anthony
64 summary).
Drucker, P. F. 1964. Managing for Results.
HarperBusiness. Reissued in 2006.
The Civil Rights Act was passed.
1965: Congress passes a law
allowing CPAs to represent clients before the IRS.
Congress creates Medicare and other programs involving complex
cost allocations.
The American Accounting Association recommends that accounting
professors should have doctorates.
First issue of Abacus
is published.
First issue of Management
Accounting is published following the N.A.A.
Bulletin.
The
first issue of The International Journal of Accounting Education and
Research is published. Became The International Journal of
Accounting in 1989.
Bedford, N. M. 1965. Income Determination Theory: An Accounting Framework. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Review by Y.
Ijiri.
Grady, P. 1965. Inventory of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for Business Enterprises.
AICPA. Review by R. N. Anthony. Grady, P. 1965. Inventory of generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of
America. The Accounting Review
(January): 21-30.
Solomons, D. 1965. Divisional Performance: Measurement and Control. Financial Executives Research Foundation, Inc. Review by C. W. Taylor. See also Vatter, W. J. 1971. Two views and a vignette. Journal of Accounting Research (Autumn): 396-409.
1966: The AAA issues A Statement of
Basic Accounting Theory (ASOBAT) that proposes evaluating accounting
information based on its relevance, verifiability, freedom from bias, measurability and user
orientation.
The Dow Jones breaks 1,000 points.
1967: The AICPA and the Carnegie Corp
issue Horizons for a Profession recommending a common body of knowledge
for accounting students and a five-year education requirement.
The Department of Defense creates ARPANET, eventually linking
computers across the country and leading to the creation of the
internet.
Galbraith, J. K. 2007. The New Industrial State.
Princeton University Press. Originally published in 1967. Galbraith
argues that corporations have too much power.
1968: The National Committee on
Governmental Accounting publishes authoritative GAAP for state and local
governments - Government accounting, auditing and financial reporting (GAAFR).
The Tax Reform Act of 1968 changes the focus of the income tax
from economic incentives to social objectives.
Herzberg, F. 2003. One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business
Review (January): 87-96. (Summary).
(This paper was originally published in the HBR in 1968).
1969: The National Association of Black
Accountants is organized in New York City.
The Tax Reform Act of 1969 enacts the Alternative Minimum
Tax.
Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.
1970: The Tax Adviser begins publishing.
The Penn Central Railroad experiences the largest bankruptcy to date.
The AICPA issues Auditing Procedures No. 49 requiring auditors to
report on internal controls.
The Accounting Principles Board issues Opinion No.s 16 and 17 on
accounting for business combinations and goodwill. Three of the Big
Eight firms indicate they have lost confidence in the APB.
The first issue of Decision
Sciences is published.
Toffler, A. 1970. Future Shock. Bantam Books.
Toffler's shortest definition for the term, "Too much change in too
short a period of time."
1971: The American Accounting
Association calls for an alternative to the Accounting Principles Board.
Staubus, G. J. 1971. Activity Costing and Input-Output Accounting.
Irwin. Review by C. J. Warrell. See MAAW's Input-Output
Accounting section for more.
The Cost Accounting Standards Board was created by Congress in 1970 and organized in 1971 to draft cost accounting
standards for contractors doing business with the Federal Government. See National Association of Accountants. 1971.The
Cost Accounting Standards Board. Management Accounting (December): 55-57; National Association of Accountants. 1973. MAP
and CASB. Management Accounting (August): 59-60; and National Association of Accountants. 1975. MAP -
CASB liaison: An update. Management Accounting
(September): 57.
Andrews, K. R. 1971. The Concept of Corporate Strategy. Dow-Jones Irwin.
The National Commission of Productivity is established.
1972: Briloff, A. J. 1972. Unaccountable Accounting. HarperCollins. Review by H. E. Milller.
See also Benston, G. J. 1974. Unaccountable accounting. Journal of Accounting Research (Autumn): 348-354.
The Wheat Committee calls for an alternative to the APB. The AICPA endorses the proposal.
The American Association of Hispanic Certified Public
Accountants (Now ALPFA) becomes the first national Latino professional
association in the U.S.
The GAO publishes Government Auditing Standards, the
"Yellow Book".
The AICPA recinds its ban on advertising.
National Association of Accountants. 1972. NAA establishes Certificate in
Management Accounting. Management Accounting
(March): 13-14, 64. The CMA exam is established. See the VanZante 2010 summary
for a history of the CMA
Exam.
The Watergate scandal.
1973: The Financial Accounting Standards Board replaces the APB.
The International Accounting Standards Committee is formed.
The AICPA publishes the Trueblood Committee Report, Objectives of Financial Statements, indicating that providing
information to external uses is the primary purpose of financial reports.
Equity Funding collapses revealing its massive computer-based fraud. Auditors may no longer audit around the computer.
The OPEC oil embargo began.
National Association of Accountants. 1973. CMA examinations held for first time. Management Accounting
(February): 61 and 72. (Questions and unofficial answers to Part 1).
Mintzberg, H. 1973. The Nature of Managerial Work.
Harper & Row. Based on Mintzberg's MIT Ph.D. dissertation, The
Manager at Work: Determining His Activities, Roles and Programs by
Structured Observation.
1974: The AICPA appoints the
Cohen Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities.
First issue of The
Accounting Historians Journal is published.
Skinner, W. 1974. The focused factory: New approach to
managing manufacturing sees our productivity crisis as the problem of
'how to compete'. Harvard Business Review (May-June): 113-121.
1975: Stettler, H. F.
1975. Certificate programs: Certified Internal Auditor. The Accounting Review
(October): 904-907.
Minzberg, H. 1975. The manager's job: Folklore and fact: The classical view says that the manager organizes, coordinates,
plans and controls; the facts suggest otherwise. Harvard Business Review (July-August): 51-61. Mintzberg reveals how managers use
relationships and intuition.
1976: Congress's Moss and
Metcalf committees recommend increased federal regulation of the
auditing profession and a government takeover of standard setting.
The first issue of Accounting,
Organizations and Society was published.
The Federation of Schools of Accountancy is
established.
Brief, R. P., G. J. Previts and S. A. Zeff (eds.) 1976. The History of Accounting. Arno
Press. Review by M. Moonitz. (This set includes 29 volumes).
The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976.
1977: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids American companies to bribe officials of foreign
governments and requires corporations to keep records of transactions for disclosure purposes.
The AICPA creates an SEC Practice Section and a Private Companies Practice Section, both with peer review and quality
control. The Oversight Board is set up to oversee the Practice Section.
The International Federation of Accountants is formed.
Chandler, A. D. 1977. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Kanter, R. M. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. Basic Books. (Corporate power as it relates to women).
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple Computer in a garage. They introduced the Apple 2, the first fully
assembled personal computer.
1978: The SEC's Accounting Series Release 250 requires companies to disclose the ratio of non-audit to audit fees.
The Cohen Report indicates that there is an "expectations gap" between what auditors do and what the
public expects them to do.
Ouchi, W. G. and A.M. Jaeger. 1978. Type Z organization: Stability in the midst of mobility. Academy of Management
Review (April): 305-314. (Summary).
1979: The SEC's Accounting
Series Release 264 attempts to restrain the provision of non-audit
services to audit clients. Both ASR 250 and 264 are rescinded.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of
Justice ask the AICPA to revise its Code of Conduct by ending its ban on
solicitation, indicating that it is a restraint on trade.
SSARS No. 1 defines reviews and compilations and
prescribes the form of reports to be issued.
The VisCalc spreadsheet is introduced.
The Osborne 1 portable CP/M based computer was
introduced with a 5 inch screen, two floppy-disk drives, 64K of RAM and
it could fit under an airplane seat.
First issue of Journal
of Accounting and Economics is published.
1980:
"If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" Is a Deming lecture on
quality basics. "Inspection does not build quality, the quality is
already made before you inspect." "Statistical methods help
you to make it right in the first place so you don't need to test it."
Hayes, R. H. and W. J. Abernathy. 2007. Managing our way to economic decline. Harvard Business Review (July-August): 138-149. This
is a reprint of their 1980 article with a retrospect by Hayes on page 141. (Summary).
Porter, M. E. 1980. Competitive Strategy. The Free Press.
(Summary).
Toffler, A. 1980. The Third Wave. Bantam Books. (A sequel to Future Shock).
The Railway Accounting Principles Board was created by
the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. See
gov/t2pbat20/134005.pdf
1981: The first issue of Auditing:
A Journal of Practice & Theory is published.
Ouchi, W. G. 1981. Theory Z. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. See Ouchi's 1978 paper above.
Pascale, R. T., and A. G. Athos 1981. The Art of Japanese Management. Simon and Schuster. "If anything, the extent of Japanese
superiority over the United States in industrial competitiveness is understated."
1982: The SEC begins developing an electronic disclosure system. Became the EDGAR system in 1992.
Lotus 1-2-3 revolutionizes accounting for small and midsize businesses.
Kaypro Corporation began designing a personal computer named the KayComp. This became the Kaypro II, a CP/M based computer set
in an aluminum case, with 64K of RAM, and two 5¼-inch floppy disk drives. It weighs 29 pounds and originally sold for $1,795. The 9 inch
screen or CRT was larger than the Osborn's 5" screen.
McCarthy, W. E. 1982. The REA accounting model: A generalized framework for accounting systems in a shared data
environment. The Accounting Review (July): 554-578.
Peters, T. J. and R. H. Waterman. 1982. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. Harper & Row.
"The problem in America is that our fascination with the tools of
management obscures our apparent ignorance of the art."
1983: The first issue of Issues in Accounting Education is published.
The first issue of the Journal
of Accounting Education is published.
Morse, W. J. 1983. Measuring quality costs. Cost
and Management (July-August): 16-20. (Summary).
See also a comparison of quality cost models in the summary
of optimization techniques.
Garvin, D. A. 1983. Quality on the line: Hard new
evidence on American product quality underscores the task ahead for
management. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 64-75.
Compares U.S. and Japanese quality. Japanese companies' average
assembly-line defect rate was almost 70 times lower and their average
first-year service call rates nearly 17 times better.
Kanter, R. M. 1983. The Change Masters: Innovations
for Productivity in the American Corporation. Simon and Schuster.
("Those people and organizations adept at the art of anticipating
the need for, and of leading, productive change." Kanter describes
the organizational structures, cultures and strategies of
Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Polaroid, General Motors, Wang
Laboratories and Honeywell).
Solomons, D. 1983. Divisional Performance: Measurement and
Control, 2nd edition. Markus Wiener Pub.
Compaq introduced the first IBM compatible PC.
1984: The Single Audit Act
requires a single comprehensive audit for state and local governments
that receive federal money.
The AICPA and the National Association of State Boards
of Accountancy publish the first joint model bill to regulate the
practice of public accounting.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board replaces the
National Council on Government Accounting.
The first issue of Advances
in Accounting is published.
The first issue of Contemporary
Accounting Research is published.
The FASB launched the EITF.
Michael Dell launches a small business in his dorm
room building custom PCs.
Kaplan, R. S. 1984. Yesterday's accounting undermines production. Harvard Business Review (July-August): 95-101.
1985: The first issue of IMA Cases
is published. Now the IMA
Educational Case Journal.
Windows 1 ships.
1986: The Tax Reform Act of
1986 is signed into law.
The IRS launches a pilot program
for the electronic filing of tax returns.
The Anderson Committee issues its report,
Restructuring Professional Standards to Achieve Professional Excellence
in a Changing Environment.
The American Accounting Association publishes the
Bedford Report critical of accounting education.
The first issue of the Journal
of Information Systems is published.
Deming, W. E. 1986. Out of the Crisis. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Engineering Study.
"Everyone doing his best is not the answer. It is first necessary that people know what to do." "Quality must be led from the
top. Exhortations to work harder do not lead to quality."
Goldratt developed the Theory
of Constraints and began criticizing accounting in The
Goal and other publications.
Miller, J. G. and T. E. Vollmann. 1985. The
hidden factory. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 142-150. (Summary).
Many authors began to emphasize just-in-time techniques and continuous improvement. For example, Imai, M. 1986. Kaizen:
The Key To Japan's Competitive Success. New York: McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company. (Summary).
Intel delivers the 386, the first 32-bit PC processor.
1987: The AICPA celebrates its 100th anniversary.
AICPA members vote to amend the bylaws to require that all members who audit publicly traded companies work for a firm that is
a member of the SEC Practice Section.
The Treadway Commission reports on how fraudulent financial management can be reduced. The idea is to decrease the "expectations
gap" between auditors and the public.
The AICPA introduces the Personal Financial Specialist credential.
Cooper and Kaplan begin to write about Activity-Based
Costing.
Johnson and Kaplan's Relevance
Lost is published.
The first issue of Accounting
Horizons is published.
The first issue of the Journal
of Cost Management is published. Now Cost Management.
The first issue of Accounting Today is
published.
Video Graphics Array or VGA premieres.
1988: The AICPA approves the
150 hours of education for new members requirement after 2000.
Berliner, C., and J. A. Brimson, eds. 1988. Cost Management for Today's
Advanced Manufacturing: The CAM-I Conceptual Design.
Boston: Harvard Business School Press. (CAM-I).
CAM-I popularized the term "Cost Management" and emphasized
concepts and techniques such as activity costing, life cycle costing,
target costing, value chain, investment management, pull vs. push
systems, and non-financial performance measurements.
The Cost Accounting Standards Board was dissolved in
1980 and permanently re-established in 1988.
1989: The first issue of Behavioral
Research in Accounting is published.
The first issue of the Journal
of Management Accounting Research is published.
E & Y and Deloitte & Touche were created by
mergers.
Tim Berners-Lee creates HyperText Markup Language or
HTML.
1990: Tim Berners-Lee builds
the core of the World Wide Web.
IRS e-file goes live.
The Federal Standards Advisory Board is created.
The first issue of Management
Accounting Research is published.
Goldratt, E. M. 1990. What is this thing called
Theory of Constraints. New York: North River Press. (Summary).
Goldratt, E. M. 1990. The Haystack Syndrome:
Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean. New York: North River
Press. (Summary).
Senge, P. M. 1990. The Fifth Discipline: The Art
and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday Currency.
(Note).
1991: The World Wide Web is launched.
Berners-Lee posts the world's first website at CERN.
The National Association of Accountants was renamed Institute
of Management Accountants.
Stewart, G. B. III. 1991. The Quest for Value: The EVA™ Management Guide. Harper Business. Economic value added is a
variation of the residual income concept attributed to General Electric
circa 1930.
1992: Johnson, H. T. 1992. Relevance Regained: From
Top-Down Control to Bottom-up Empowerment. New York: The Free Press.
(Summary).
The first issue of Advances
in Management Accounting is published.
Kaplan and Norton begin writing about the Balanced
Scorecard.
Toyota Public Affairs Division and Operations Management Consulting Division. 1998. The Toyota Production System: Leaner Manufacturing for a Greener Planet. The Toyota Motor Corporation. (Summary). First published in 1992.
1993: Deming, W. E. 1993. The New Economics For Industry, Government & Education. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Engineering Study. (Summary).
1994: The AICPA Special
Committee (Jenkins) proposes a business reporting model.
Meyers, G. U. and E. S. Koval. 1994. Proud of The Past: 75
Years of Excellence Through Leadership 1919-1994. Institute of Management
Accountants.
Womack and Jones began to write about the Lean
Enterprise model making a distinction between lean company and lean
enterprise. (See the Lean
Concepts and Terms Summary).
1995: The AICPA launches the
CPA Vision Project to define the future of the profession.
Windows 95 launches turning what was a shell on top of
DOS into a complete operating system. This effectively kills MS-DOS.
1996: More AICPA members are
employed in industry than in public accounting firms.
The
CFM
exam was established and was offered until 2006.
First
issue of Review
of Accounting Studies is published.
Kaplan,
R. S. and D. P. Norton. 1996. The Balanced Scorecard: Translating
Strategy into Action. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. (Summary).
Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading Change. Harvard Business School. The art of persuading people and organizations to
change.
USB emerges and vastly improves the chore of hooking up keyboards, mice, and cameras. This leads to the USB
flash memory industry.
1997: The AICPA offers the
first exam for the Accredited in Business Valuation credential.
DVD players and discs go on sale.
1998: The IRS is restructured and modernized.
PricewaterhouseCoopers was created by a merger. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act exempts internet
site from copyright liability provided that they comply with DMCA
takedown notices.
1999: The AICPA council
recognizes The Federal Standards Advisory Board as a body entitled to
establish GAAP standards for federal government entities.
The first issues of Management
Accounting Quarterly and Strategic
Finance are published.
The first 802.11 standards for wireless networking are
adopted. The Wi-Fi Alliance is founded to promote and certify products.
2000: The AICPA introduces the
Certified Information Technology Professional designation.
The first issue of International
Journal of Accounting Information Systems is published.
The first issue of the Journal
of Forensic Accounting is published.
2001: The International
Accounting Standards Committee is renamed the International Accounting
Standards Board.
Enron restates its earnings back to 1977 and files for
bankruptcy. Arthur Andersen collapses due to its association with Enron.
The first issue of Accounting
and the Public Interest is published.
The first issue of Advances
in Environmental Accounting & Management is published.
Kaplan, R. S. and D. P. Norton. 2001. The
Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive
in the New Business Environment. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School
Press. (Summary).
Windows XP merges Windows 2000 and ME into a unified
32-bit operating system.
2002: The FASB and the
International Accounting Standards Board agree to remove differences
between international standards and U.S. GAAP.
The Global Reporting Initiative issues the first set
of comprehensive guidelines for Corporate Sustainability reporting.
Electronic signatures are allowed for e-filed returns.
WorldCom's accounting fraud is discovered and the company files for bankruptcy.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is passed creating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
to set public company auditing standards.
The first issue of the Journal
of International Accounting Research is published.
Tablet PCs debut.
Arthur Andersen LLP is convicted of obstruction of justice and the firm unravels.
2003: Sharon L. Allen becomes chairman of Deloitte and the first woman to rise to that level at a large accounting firm.
2004: The AICPA launches 360
Degrees of Financial Literacy.
A new computerized Uniform CPA Examination focused
more on research skills and problem solving replaces the old version.
Lopez, K. J. and L. B. Specht. 2009. The computer-based CPA exam. The CPA Journal (September): 64-70.
Accelerated filers must comply with SOX Section 404 by
including an external auditor's opinion on the effectiveness of their
internal controls over financial reporting.
The PCAOB issues its first auditing standards for
public companies.
The FASB amends
Statement No. 123 on compensatory stock options to eliminate
alternatives to expensing the options and to bring the rules closer to
international accounting standards.
The first issue of Global
Perspectives on Accounting Education is published.
The first issue of the Journal of Emerging
Technologies in Accounting is published.
Kaplan, R. S. and S. R. Anderson. 2004. Time-driven activity-based costing. Harvard Business Review (November): 131-138.
2005: The U.S. Supreme Court reverses Arthur Andersen's 2002 conviction.
The professional association Ascend launches advancing the finance and accounting
professions in the Asian and pacific Islander communities.
The SEC allows voluntary submission of XBRL-formatted files as exhibits to periodic reports.
Various authors begin to write about Lean
Accounting.
2006: Feed the Pig launches as part of a financial literacy campaign targeting 25 to 34 year olds.
The AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy start an initiative that by 2011 would result in 49 of 55
jurisdictions enacting mobility legislation.
2007: The Treasury Department forms the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession to identify and resolve pressing issues.
2008: The Certified Financial
Forensics credential launches.
The first International Financial Reporting
Standard-based statements are filed with the SEC.
The FASB and SEC release guidance on fair-value
accounting when no relevant market evidence exists.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act allows the
U.S. Treasury to buy problem assets to improve balance sheets of
financial institutions to keep credit flowing.
Bear Stearns becomes the first major casualty of the
subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual follow.
Toyota
displaces GM as the number 1 automaker.
2009: The FASB issues the Accounting Standards Codification as the single source of U.S. generally
accepted accounting principles.
The International Accounting Standards Board
introduces IFRS for small to medium entities.
The first issue of the Journal
of Forensic and Investigative Accounting is published.
Windows 7 is released.
2010: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is passed. It permanently exempts small-cap firms from SOX Section 404(b) requirements.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) was formed.
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the PCAOB.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is passed and signed by the President.
2011: The Horizons 2025 report
outlines opportunities and challenges for the profession.
The CPA exam is offered outside the U.S. in Japan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates with Brazil
joining the group in 2012.
A blue-ribbon panel on private companies recommends a new board and modifications to GAAP that recognize the unique purposes
of private company financial statements.
The IRS requires all preparers to have Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs).
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board was established. (See the Schooley and English 2015 Summary and the SASB).
2012: The AICPA membership
grows to nearly 380,000.
The AICPA and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants create the Chartered Global Management Accountant
designation. Journal of Accountancy. 2012. Visit CGMA.org. Journal of Accountancy (March):
32-33. (The AICPA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' web
site for the new CGMA designation is cgma.org).
The Pathways Commission. 2012. The Pathways Commission on Higher
Education: Charting a National Strategy for the Next Generation of
Accountants. American Accounting Association and American Institute
of CPAs. (Note).
Kristensen and Israelsen develop a new lean financial
accounting model. Kristensen, T. B. and P. Israelsen 2012. Management
accounting system problems in context of lean: Development of a proposed
solution. In Mitchell, F., H. Norrreklit and M. Jakobsen, eds. 2012. The
Routledge Companion to Cost Management. Routledge Companions in
Business. (Summary).
Windows 8 debuts and replaces the start menu with the controversial start
screen.
________________________________________________
* Source materials used to develop this summary include the following:
100 years of AAA Trivia and History.
AJC archives, news reports. Andersen Alumni Association.
Case, L. 2013. 30 years, 30 great tech events. PC World (March): 81-84.
Crainer, S. 2000. The Management Century: A Critical Review of the 20th Century Thought & PracticeJossey-Bass.
Johnson, H. T. and R. S. Kaplan. 1987. Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Journal of Accountancy. 2012. The timeline 1887-2012: Special 125th Anniversary foldout. Journal of Accountancy (June): 49-53.
Kiechel, W. III. 2012. The management century. Harvard Business Review (November): 62-75.
Koontz, H. 1961. The management theory jungle. The Journal of the Academy of Management 4(3): 174-188. (Summary).
Mackay, J. S., E. Boyd, J. R. Fogo, A. Sloan and J. Patrick. 1905. A history of accounting and accountants. T. C. & E. C. Jack.
Various sections on the MAAW site (maaw.info), particularly MAAW's History and Development Section.
Moussalli, S. 2005. Accounting for the journal's first 100 years: A timeline from 1905-2005. Journal of Accountancy (October): 43-45, 47-48, 51-53, 55-56, 59-60, 63,6 5-66, 71-72.
The Accounting Review. 1954. Historical dates in accounting. The Accounting Review (July): 486-493. (The dates range from 4500 B.C. to 1953).
Wikipedia: Time-sharing and Time_Sharing_System