Accounting and everyday life: towards a cultural context for accounting research

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to set out a research agenda for the study of accounting and everyday life. Reiterating Hopwood's seminal call, the paper aims to stress the importance of the everyday for furthering not only an understanding of accounting practice, but also culture more generally. For example, the study of the everyday may shed light on the calculative technologies at play in significant cultural shifts and transformations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on secondary literature to illustrate the potential of adopting a cultural context in accounting research. In addition, it also suggests new research sites firmly embedded in the everyday.FindingsThe paper is structured around three sections, each of which examines a particular aspect of everyday culture. In consumerism, the role of an overhead allocation technique in the creation of garment standardised sizing systems is explored. The potential role of accounting within the contemporary fashion industry is also suggested in this section. In the home section, the impact of standard costing practices in the dissemination of a classically inspired style of interior design and exterior architecture is discussed. In the final section, the significance of leisure and entertainment in everyday life is considered and some suggestions made regarding sites for future research in this field.Originality/valueThe paper's value arises from highlighting the potential of the everyday as a site for furthering an understating of accounting. In particular, it calls on researchers to recognise the significance of the everyday and to broaden the cultural context of their studies to encompass everyday activities.

Makeover accounting: Investigating the meaning-making practices of financial accounts

“…In spite of a growing understanding of accounting as something that has come to permeate everyday life (Hopwood, 1994), previous research has, as Napier (2006) puts it, "a tendency to view the actions and practices of élites as inherently more important than the life of 'ordinary people'" (p. 459). By consequence, most research concerning the impact of accounting has been conducted on the organisational level, studying how accounting representations, technologies, and vocabulary influence and change people's professional working conditions (Jeacle, 2009(Jeacle, , 2012. By contrast, to study how accounting is casted in a televised financial makeover show, attempting to influence people's attitude towards their own private financial affairs, serves as a response to a growing call in the social accounting community: to further explorations of the interpenetration between accounting and society in the everyday life of 'ordinary' people (see e.g.…”

“…By contrast, to study how accounting is casted in a televised financial makeover show, attempting to influence people's attitude towards their own private financial affairs, serves as a response to a growing call in the social accounting community: to further explorations of the interpenetration between accounting and society in the everyday life of 'ordinary' people (see e.g. Hopwood, 1994;Miller, 2007;Mennicken, Miller, & Samiolo, 2008;Jeacle, 2009Jeacle, , 2012. Hence, unlike the bulk of accounting research preoccupied with the professional activities within organisations, this paper targets the sphere of people's domestic financial management, a field of investigation that has long been disregarded and only marginally examined (for exceptions, see e.g.…”

Framing financial responsibility: An analysis of the limitations of accounting

“…The fi rst concerns the em pirical level of investigation. Studying the financial responsibilisation of people at their personal level of life serves as a response to what Hopwood (1994) , Miller (2007 and Jeacle (2009Jeacle ( , 2010 am ong others call for: taking accounting research beyond the orga nisational borders of investigation and putting it in an everyday social context. As m ost prior accounting literature has been preoccupied with studying the ac tivities and phenom ena taking place within organisations, this pap er c ontrastingly targe ts th e sphere of people's personal financial m anagement-a field of investigation that for long has been disregarded and poorly examined (Llewellyn and Walker, 2000).…”

“…Even so, m arginal efforts have been made to investigate those activities aimed at influencing the m ore mundane everyday financial activ ities taking place ou tside of people's workplaces (see e.g. Llew ellyn an d Walker, 2000;W alker, 2003;Carnegie and Walker, 2007;Johed, 2007;Jeacle, 2009). As opposed to m ost accounting researchers "preferring to seek solace in the sphere of the corporation rather th an the coffee shop " (Jeacle, 2010), this paper refocuses the empirical scene away from people's work settings and into th eir p rivate sphe res.…”

Correlation of Leadership Style and Culture Type for Public Accounting

“…The organisations that do not have a dominant culture style either tend to be unclear about their culture or emphasize the most highly rated styles equally. Jeacle (2009) suggested that most large accounting firms have the broadest level of a large organisation global culture and further research needs to be conducted of accountants. Few studies have explored leadership and culture within accounting firms.…”