Internal accounting practices at Whitbread & Company, c. 1890–1925

Abstract

This article examines internal accounting practices at Whitbread & Company from c. 1890 to 1925. At this time, there was an increasing interest in cost accounting, but there is little detailed extant research on general internal accounting practices of firms. The brewing sector, we suggest, is a potentially fruitful realm to further our knowledge of this time. Drawing on the Whitbread brewery archival records, we chart the internal accounting practices of the company. Our findings reveal a stable set of accounting practices, focused mainly on bookkeeping, although the firm’s auditor produced some reports which may have been useful for management decision-making. We argue that these practices were highly institutionalised and seemingly resistant to external forces present in the company’s environment.

Accounting and work in the charities: The case of an Italian institution in the nineteenth century

“…We build our study using the conceptual framework from other studies on the institutionalisation of accounting practices (Hiebl et al, 2015; Kristandl and Quinn, 2018; Quinn, 2014; Quinn and Jackson, 2014; Spraakman, 2006), and use the institutional framework presented by Burns and Scapens (2000). The framework by Burns and Scapens (2000) assumes that accounting practices can shape institutions and be shaped by institutions.…”

“…We will be able to attach the routine label to the accounting procedure in our case study with no formal regulation or standards for accounting. On the other hand, rules are the officially recognised form of doing things (Burns and Scapens, 2000) and accounting practices become institutionalised through the interactions of rules and routines (Kristandl and Quinn, 2018). In this research, we use institutional theory to discuss the transformation in accounting practices and labour reports along with changes in activities in an Italian charity during the nineteenth century.…”