Working on the Railroad: Public Accounting Talent in the United States—The Case of Haskins & Sells (Now Deloitte)

Nineteenth century US railroads were the first ‘big businesses’ and had profound influence on society. This paper addresses one source of talent for the early US public accounting profession—railroads. Following the end of the US Civil War (1861–65), industrial expansion was a revolutionary experience, with large trusts appearing in the wake of the railroad's maturing influence on the development of a vast continental economy. Accounting practice also was impacted by railroads. For example, the development of annual reports, income measurement, the standardization of reporting by regulators, developing fixed and variable cost, and throughput concepts for capital intensive business—all were related to the railroads. This paper focuses on a significant link between the emerging public accounting profession and the railroads by examining how an early major US public accounting firm relied upon accounting skill developed within railroads as an important source of talent. Arguably, talent is the most important resource of a professional firm. While it is a commonly held view that the immigration of UK accountants in the late nineteenth century was the source of public accounting talent, this paper provides evidence of a competing explanation—the sourcing of talent from a firm (Haskins & Sells) that continues to the present day as Deloitte. Key leadership and personnel of that time gained their experience while working on the domestic railroads.     

CPA credential perceptions: a case study of Hispanic accountants

One of the recommendations of The Pathways Commission report was to increase the number of diverse entrants into the accounting profession. While the Commission’s recommendation is commendable, the lack of diversity in the accounting profession is not a new problem. Hence, the accounting profession has attempted to address the underrepresentation of minority Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) for many years. To this end, organizations such as American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), and the Ph.D. Project have provided different types of support to alleviate the problem. However, the numbers are still disturbingly low. This is particularly true for Hispanic accountants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine Hispanic accountants’ perception of the CPA credential. While the results indicate that gender, exam affordability, and job incentives are positively associated with the likelihood of being a CPA, the 150-hour requirement was not perceived as a hindrance for certification.     

Employee leasing. The antebellum 1800s and the twenty-first century: A historical perspective of the contingent labour force

Management strategies have evolved over the centuries in response to economic and social needs of individuals and organizations. The maintenance of a flexible labour force was a management practice employed by industrialists more than a century ago. The use of employee leasing in the United States dates back to the industrial revolution that occurred during the nineteenth century. Industrialists leased bondsmen to supplement their labour force. This practice, known as 'hiring-out', permitted employers to obtain labour without making heavy investments in human resources. The motivations for maintaining a contingent labour force today are essentially unchanged from a century ago. This paper addresses the nineteenth-century use of a contingent labour force by the large Southern firm of Andrew Brown and Company in the period prior to the US Civil War.     

An interview with George O. May, 1955

The discovery of a 50-year-old reel-reel magnetic audio tape in the AICPA Collection at the University of Mississippi Library turned into a lengthy recovery project of the contents, an interview with George O. May by John Lawler, editor of the Journal of Accountancy. The hour-long content had been digested in a June l955 article celebrating May’s 80th birthday but never before published in full. The content of the interview contains insights into May’s perspective about and vision for the profession after six decades of involvement.     

Auditing in the United States: a historical perspective

This article reports several archival auditing discoveries and episodes, including significant previously unpublished ones, in a context that relates auditing to early corporate enterprises in the United States. While the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's reliance on its audit committee of directors from its inception in 1827 and the functions of the auditing committee of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the 1850s are the principal subjects of the article, other railroad examples are also provided. These uses of auditing in the early corporate United States provide materials which provide a useful perspective for today's accounting researchers and practitioners as to the fundamental control and governance values of the auditing function. The article advances the basis for explaining the origins and development of auditing in the United States.     

Donald C. Cook: CPA,SEC Chairman,corporate legend,and presidential advisor

Donald C. Cook served as a member of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1949 to 1953 and as Chairman during the last two years. His unique position as the only Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who served as Commission Chairman has been largely unnoticed and elicits the need for a profile about the individual, his background, career, and what, if any, legacy might be related to it. Cook was also unique in that his prior staff experience at the SEC was primarily in the public utilities division. This profile describes and identifies several episodes in Cook's career at the SEC and after. These include other public service positions in government and his executive career at American Electric Power (AEP) as president and board chairman. These years were often filled with controversy and challenges in dealings with the SEC and with issues relating to consolidation among utilities as the country's demand for electrical energy grew substantially. His government service roles beyond the SEC acquainted him with many political leaders. He was an advisor to President Lyndon Johnson, who shared the opinion of others that Cook was “the smartest man in the country” [Johnson, Telephone conversation No. 7070, March 16, 1965].     

Managerial accounting in an early 19th century German-American religious commune

Managerial accounting is a product of its environment. Consequently, different forms of societal organizations will have differnet levels of sophistication in their accounting systems. This is evidenced by the accounting system of the Harmonists, a communistic religious society on the Indiana frontier (1814–1824). Whereas most of American society consisted of individual merchants, craftsmen and farmers, the Harmonists had an integrated economy with everyone working for the common welfare. The Harmony conglomerate necessitated a system with greater sophistication than those in other parts of America.     

A case of an early 1900s principal-agent relationship in the Mississippi lumber industry

Correspondence for the L. N. Dantzler Lumber Company, dating from 1904, survives in the Lumber Archives of the University of Mississippi. The correspondence is from the personal files of R. Breland, who rose to the position of office manager of the Dantzler Mills. An analysis of the correspondence reveals a unique agency relationship between the Dantzler Lumber Company and Breland. Breland was hired by the Dantzlers as a land agent. At the time, he was also employed by the Finkbine Lumber Company, a competitor of Dantzler's. Breland's behaviour supports the traditional behavioural assumption in agency theory that individuals will maximize their own self-interests with guile. His access to information allowed him to profit at the expense of others. He used his connections in land-related transactions to achieve personal gain.     

The Financial Accounting Standards Board: Profiles of seven leaders

Since its inception over four decades ago, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been led by seven individuals who have served as Board Chair. This paper includes a biographical sketch of the individuals, their terms of service, standards topics and some points of commonality and difference in their prior experience and Board service. This study provides a synoptic review to assist those interested in learning more about the Board Chairs, and to inform as to the role and style of each individual in contrast to the others. The paper provides a foundation for future research of these individuals, their activities and actions through other historical research such as oral histories, collections of writings and speeches and similar catalogues of activity.