Locating moral boundaries in the early accountancy profession

ABSTRACT

Studies of the accounting profession increasingly suggest the alterability of ethical and moral boundaries over time and space. This study explores moral delineation in the British accountancy profession at a key juncture during its institutionalisation. The results of a micro-level investigation of the case of David Chadwick are presented. Chadwick, a major contributor to the organisation of the profession and a Member of Parliament, was found guilty of bribery in 1881, shortly after the formation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Highly publicised revelations of his misconduct appear, however, to have been received with indifference by the accountancy bodies to which he belonged. The study explores a number of possible explanations for this apparent disinterest at a time when the conduct of accounting professionals was under close scrutiny. It is suggested that in late Victorian Britain, bribery, though a criminal act, was seldom perceived as immoral and was therefore located outside the moral boundaries of the accounting profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Accountancy profession
• morality
• bribery
• elections
• David Chadwick

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Indeed, Chadwick activities as a promoter and his firm as an auditor of a coal and iron company features in the paper by Edwards (2019b) contained in this special issue.

2. Some commentators suggested that the number of voters directly or indirectly bribed in Macclesfield was as high as two-thirds of the electorate (Courtney 1881, 483).

3. It should be noted that as the bye-laws of the Institute did not come into effect until March 1882, Section 20 of the Royal Charter was the operative authority during the period of Chadwick’s unseating and being found guilty of fraud (MS28410/1, 15; The History of the Institute 1966, 27).