'A sort of guide, philosopher and friend': the rise of the professional auditor in Britain
- 1 March 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Accounting, Business & Financial History
- Vol. 9 (1), 29-50
- https://doi.org/10.1080/095852099330359
Abstract
This paper considers the legal and financial context in which professional audit emerged in Britain during the nineteenth century. It concludes that an important contributing factor to the rise of the audit profession was its provision of advice on prudent accounting, which represented a distinctive competence. The capture of a jurisdiction over business advisory services from the legal profession involved, however, a relationship of complicity with management and large insider investors the interests of social capital- to the exclusion of small investors, who were stigmatized as 'speculators'.Keywords
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