Accounting Education and the Profession in New Zealand: Profiles of the Pioneering Academics and the Early University Accounting Departments 1900‐1970

Citation

Bisman, J. (2011), "Accounting Education and the Profession in New Zealand: Profiles of the Pioneering Academics and the Early University Accounting Departments 1900‐1970", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 199-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/18325911111139707

With Emeritus Professor Donald Trow's intimate knowledge and experience of accounting education in the New Zealand higher education sector and Professor Stephen Zeff's international profile in researching how aspects of accounting are forged in different countries, Accounting Education and the Profession in New Zealand has significant credibility from the outset. The Foreword to the text (pp. 7‐11) was written by Roger W. Hopkins (Emeritus Professor at Victoria University of Wellington), one of the people profiled in the book and the first New Zealand university PhD graduate in accounting (p. 47).

However, while the main title of this book and the fact that it is published by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) might lead readers to expect a detailed discussion of matters such as course accreditation and the interrelationships of universities and the professional bodies, it is the subtitle, Profiles of the Pioneering Academics and the Early University Accounting Departments 1900‐1970, that is most indicative of the main thrust of this work. The stated goals of the volume were to acknowledge and appreciate pioneers in the field of accounting education in New Zealand through “study of the early evolution of the university accounting programmes, together with publications and professional involvements by its staff” (p. i). The emphasis is very much on the people and personalities who initiated and contributed to the subsequent development of the first accounting courses in the nation, as well as their various roles in advancing accounting, and accountants, through their work with the professional bodies. The book also reveals some gems in the form of impressions and perceptions about many of these key personalities, particularly in respect to their teaching styles.

A range of sources have been used in researching and writing the book, with an especial highlight being that 17 key accounting academics, including numerous of those discussed in detail in the book, were interviewed by the authors, adding an oral history dimension and personal perspectives to the study. The authors investigate accounting courses and noteworthy academics of the past (from 1900 to 1970) in connection with four of today's New Zealand universities – Victoria University of Wellington (of which co‐author Trow is an Emeritus Professor), University of Otago, University of Canterbury, and University of Auckland. These universities originated as various colleges, such as Canterbury University College (p. 43) and Victoria University College (p. 13), and were all once (until devolution in 1960) campuses of the University of New Zealand. Each chapter covers a specific college/university, commencing with a scene setting and contextualising sketch of the city concerned, the dates of introduction of accounting programmes, and the academics who acted as driving forces for accounting education in the relevant university. The bulk of each chapter is then broken down into significant eras, and the courses and academics are examined in more depth. Innovations in course content, instruction and delivery styles are detailed, and for each profiled academic there is a précis of their educational background and qualifications, and their experiences in various positions in accounting firms and/or commercial organisations and the public sector. The majority of academics are shown to have played major roles in the formation or development and leadership of then existing professional bodies, such as the New Zealand Society of Accountants (NZSA, which became the NZICA in 1996), the New Zealand Institute of Cost Accountants (which was eventually subsumed by the NZSA), and the academic body – the Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand (known today as the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ)). Other critical contributions of the key academics to business, accounting practice, and review panels and committees established by the New Zealand Government are elaborated on in the book.

The work concludes with further biographical information (pp. 65‐73) about these pioneering accounting professors and provides examples of their publications (pp. 75‐98). The majority of these publications appeared in The Accountants' Journal, a professional journal which came into being in 1922 and was published by the NZSA. An additional element of Trow and Zeff's book is a four page insert of colour and black and white photographs of 24 of the featured academics and the present‐day (2010) commerce/business building on the campuses of each of the four focal universities.

Significantly, a number of the academics considered in the book have made substantive contributions to the development of accounting education and accounting thought internationally. Notable examples of such individuals showcased in the book include Edward Stamp, who “publicly raised awkward questions about the role of accounting and its institutions” (Sikka et al., 1995, p. 116) and advanced accounting education and accounting thought in not only New Zealand, but also in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and elsewhere (Stamp, 1980, 1984; Mumford and Peasnell, 1993; Gibson, 1995). On a more personal note, during my own studies for my bachelor's degree in accounting in Australia four decades ago, I well remember using the textbooks of Athol Carrington and George Battersby (such as Carrington and Battersby, 1967; Carrington, 1983) and the articles of Murray Wells, now Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, published in journals such as the Accounting Review and Journal of Accounting Research.

A number of journal articles in accounting history and accounting more generally have examined “firsts”, including the “first” professors of accounting in particular countries or universities (Carnegie and Williams, 2001; Clarke, 2005), and/or the development of the “first” accounting courses in such settings (Juchau, 2005; Buhr et al., 2006). However, the literature has been largely bereft of any in‐depth insights into these matters in respect to accounting academics and institutions in New Zealand (for an exception see Carnegie and Parker, 1996) and, consequently, Trow and Zeff's book fills a definite void. However, since the book is relatively concise at less than 100 pages and presents a study of only four of New Zealand's universities, there is obvious potential and a challenge to be advanced to study the development of accounting courses and early accounting academicians in other New Zealand institutions. Further, while the authors have clearly made liberal use of a variety of relevant archives in compiling the work, there are few details given about these sources and only a very brief (one page) list of references is provided (p. iii). There is also no index for the work, although the table of contents and clear section headings within the chapters somewhat mitigate this issue by providing a degree of signposting of the coverage.

Trow and Zeff (p. ii) note in their introduction that:

[…] it is our hope that this historical presentation will enrich understanding and appreciation of all New Zealand accounting academics for the efforts and achievements of the early builders of our field.

This book will have appeal to members of the accounting academy in New Zealand who are interested in the origins and antecedents of their courses and institutions. However, its potential audience is far less restrictive than this, since the treatise presents information, observations and insight more broadly into the areas of accounting history, accounting education, the professionalisation of accounting, and the transfer (import and export) of accounting thought and practice.