The method of bookkeeping, deduced from clear principles

James Dodson FRS devised a new way of teaching double entry bookkeeping based on deductive logic, and he employed this method of scientific analysis to require recognition of assets and changes in their value in the absence of prior market transactions. This paper is designed to advance knowledge of accounting history by demonstrating diversity in the history of accounting thought and by revealing how it can be influenced by new ways of thinking gaining credence within the wider contemporary environment. Understanding of the history of double entry bookkeeping is broadened and deepened by locating Dodson’s treatise within the context of the scientific revolution; a time when complete obedience to the scriptures and classical authorities came under challenge from the systematic pursuit of knowledge based on reasoning, critical questioning, and the establishment of clear relationships between cause and effect

Accountancy on the periphery: the profession in Exeter to 1939

This paper presents an historical case study of the accountancy profession in the English cathedral city and county town of Exeter. Inter alia, it examines the idea that the formation of professional accountancy bodies served not only to enhance the collective economic status and social mobility of their members but also, in the case of a city like Exeter located on the periphery of the UK, to enhance their geographical mobility. The emphases of the paper are on the growth in the numbers of accountants, migration of accountants (both within the UK and overseas), and the overlapping 'jurisdictions' of accountants with other professions. Exeter's experience is compared and contrasted with that of the UK as a whole and suggestions are made for further research. The paper includes data on professional accountants qualifying in and/or working in Exeter from the late 1870s to the outbreak of the World War II in 1939.accountancy profession, Exeter, jurisdiction, migration, periphery,