Development of cost accounting in Finland from the last century to the 1960s

Abstract

This article examines the development of cost accounting in Finland from the middle of the last century to the 1960s. The main concern is the development of cost accounting thought, not practice. This is an exercise in historical research,the study of the past and change, in which the'empirical source material is accounting literature in Finnish: research reports, textbooks, documents used for legislative purposes and articles in professional journals. In particular, an attempt is made to identify the turning points in accounting thought and to make the changes that occurred more comprehensible by illuminating their historical con-text, or, as historians say, to study matters, their origin and development from a genetic time perspective.