Science of accounts: Bookkeeping rooted in the ideal of science

              Accounting Historians Journal
Vol. 25, No. 2
December 1998
1997 Vangermeersch Manuscript Award Winner
Keith P. McMillan, S.J.
ROCKHURST COLLEGE
THE SCIENCE OF ACCOUNTS:
BOOKKEEPING ROOTED IN THE IDEAL
OF SCIENCE
Abstract: This paper presents the discourse of the "science of ac­counts"
as it developed in 19th century U.S. accounting literature.
The paper initially emphasizes the meaning which the term "science
of accounts" had during this period. In addition, it presents the
contemporary belief that this science helped reveal the essential eco­nomic
ontology, which bookkeeping makes visible. Second, the pa­per
analyzes how this rational institutional myth became institu­tionalized
within the emerging profession's technical journals and
its professional organization, the Institute of Accounts. Through re­liance
on this scientific foundation, the newly emerging profession
could gain greater social legitimacy, leading to the first CPA law in
1896.
INTRODUCTION
Accountics is the mathematical science of values [Of­fice,
1887, p. 103].
Inasmuch as other branches of scientific work mani­fest
unexpected life from time to time, so may we assume
that there lurks among the foundations of bookkeeping
some as yet unapplied principles, which, once brought
into play, will change, more or less, the routine of our
office practice [Kittredge, 1896, pp. 320-321].
The term "science of accounts" became the most defining
and formalizing concept for the body of knowledge encompass-
Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank Peter Miller, Christopher
Napier, and two anonymous reviewers for comments on previous versions of
this paper.
Submitted: October 1997
Revised: May 1998
Accepted: May 1998