Chartered accountants as business managers: an oral history perspective

The training of chartered accountants has always stressed the audit function. However, from the late 1920s increasing numbers of chartered accountants began to leave auditing in order to take up accounting posts in industry and commerce. This paper considers what at first appears to be an odd process people with a high level of training in one field of activity moving elsewhere to a career for which they were less well qualified. Some theoretical explanations for this are sought in Part 1. This is followed in Part 2 by some evidence on the move drawn from a programme of oral interviews with several accountants who were part of this process. It also records some effects of this movement on the profession.