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Public Accounting in the United States from 1928 to 1951

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

James Don Edwards
James Don Edwards
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Accountingat Michigan State University
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Abstract

Public accounting practice and the nature of the accounting profession itself has, in the years under consideration, been shaped by a series of external forces. The Great Depression stimulated codification and regulation of practice. Further refinements of auditing procedures were introduced in the wake of the McKesson & Robbins case. The basic question of who was authorized to practice received almost continuous attention, and was the subject of much legislation and some important legal action. World War II introduced new practices, added responsibilities, and certain difficulties. And finally, the emergence of a strong national organization provided the profession with a means for achieving internal consistency and the capacity for co-ordinated reaction to rapid external change.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 1956 , pp. 444 - 471
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1956

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