What constitutes a classic in accounting literature?

              WHAT CONSTITUTES A CLASSIC IN
ACCOUNTING LITERATURE?
by
Frank Barton, Memphis State University
There are those who believe that the
accounting profession has gained considerable
dignity and recognition during the past sixty
or so years. Several accountants, including
Chambers, Hatfield, Littleton, Mautz, Paton,
Scott, Sterling and others, have made many
contributions to accounting literature. From
time to time some of them have made
comments concerning the acceptance of
accounting as a profession and its standing
among other professions.
The people best qualified to make an
evaluation of the writings of accounting scholars
are probably members of the Academy of
Accounting Historians. Members of the
Academy frequently do research on the works
of prominent accountants, past and present,
and may be in a very fine position to make
meaningful observations about specific authors'
works. The research presented in this paper is
directed toward identifying articles in
accounting literature that are perceived to be
"classics" and why they are so perceived by
members of the Academy of Accounting
Historians.
A BIT OF HISTORY
The recognition of accounting as a
respectable profession with a measurable degree
of maturity and dignity has advanced
considerably since Hatfield's, "An Historical
Defense of Bookkeeping," was published in the
Journal of Accountancy in 1924. In fact, to
quote a bit from Hatfield:
I am sure that all of us who teach
accounting in the universities suffer from
the implied contempt of our colleagues,
who look upon accounting as an
intruder, a soul among the prophets, a
pariah whose very presence detracts
somewhat from the sanctity of the
academic halls.1
He then added:
But the contempt for accounting is even
more clearly shown by the constantly
repeated phrase, a phrase which of all
phrases is to me the most
exacerbating—because of the ignorance
and supercilious condescension. The
phrase, which I could quote from
uncounted sources, is: "That is a mere
bookkeeping entry. . '2
and most disturbing of all, he said:
And remember how accounting has
been slighted in literature. The public
eye has generally, both in history and in
fiction been turned on the man on
horseback, but nevertheless at times
there comes upon the stage a more
prosaic figure. Great masterpieces have
grouped themselves about a scholar as
Foust, about a carpenter as Adam Bede,
about a manufacturer as in Les
Miserables, about a sailor as Robinson
Crusoe, about courtesans, thieves, and
beggars beyond recital. Even a horse and
dog have been made the heroes in Black
Beauty and in Rob and His Friends. But
never, so far as I recollect, has a
bookkeeper been made the hero of
novel, play; or poem. The bookkeeper
is not even honored being a noteworthy
villain.3
Hatfield did have hope for the accounting
profession and went on to insist in his paper
that
. . . in its origin it is respectable, maybe
even academic; that despite its present
disrepute it has from time to time
attracted the attention of men of
unquestioned intellectual attainment;
that it justifies itself in that it has risen
to meet a social need.4
Continued
6 The Accounting Historians Notebook, Spring, 1984