Abstract :
Purpose – This paper seeks to review the accounting history content of Accounting, Auditing &
Accountability Journal (AAAJ) over the last 20 years and to identify distinctive research themes
therein. Observations and suggestions are offered in relation to future accounting history research.
Design/methodology/approach – The study comprises an analysis of the content of AAAJ and
related literature.
Findings – Histories appearing in AAAJ have focused on technical issues, accounting in business
organisations, cost and management accounting, accounting historiography, professionalisation, and
socio-cultural studies of accounting. The journal has been an important medium for the pursuit of
interdisciplinarity, the promotion and practical application of new research methods, methodological
pluralism, and searches for convergence in historical debates.
Research limitations/implications – The paper discusses the potential for advancing established
research agendas in accounting history and identifies some new subjects for investigation by
accounting historians.
Originality/value – It is suggested that, while methodological innovation and plurality are to be
applauded, the sustained application of new approaches should also receive greater encouragement.
Searches for rapprochement in accounting history debate run the risk of stultifying historical
controversy. It is argued that histories of management accounting, gender, class, professionalisation
are far from “complete” and should be reignited through the adoption of broader theoretical, temporal
and spatial parameters. An emphasis on the performative aspects of accounting in socio-cultural
histories is encouraged, as is clearer recognition of the significance of contemporary understandings of
the boundaries of accounting. Also emphasised is the desirability of more indigenously sensitised
histories of the profession, greater engagement with the “literary turn”, and a renewed commitment to
interdisciplinarity.
