In October 2001, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) published A Future for the Accountancy Profession: The Quest for Closure and Integration, 1957-1970 (339 pages). The Foreword, by Professor Andrew Christie, ICAS President, notes that: “On assuming the Presidency of ICAS in April 2001, there were a number of key strategic issues which the Institute had started to address. Firstly, the unrestricted use of the term ‘accountant.’ At a time when ICAS is increasingly regulating the activities of its members, there remains a population of ‘accountants’ whose work is unrestricted and who compete with qualified practitioners. Secondly, investigating how the Institute can become more relevant to the large number of its members who are not in practice but employed in industry and commerce. Thirdly, how to ensure that the governance of the Institute is designed to adequately represent the interests of chartered accountants in the diverse environments in which they work. Fourthly, maximising the use of modern communications to enhance the involvement of the membership in the formulation of policy.”
Christie goes on to say: “It is intriguing to discover from this monograph by Ken Shackleton and Stephen Walker that these issues were familiar to our forebears. The problem of how to define the ‘accountant’ in the context of the changing nature of the work performed by qualified accountants has surfaced as a problem during several attempts to draft legislation for the regulation of the profession. At the centre of the efforts to unify the professional organisations during the 1960s was the need to address the fact that while the chartered institutes were established as organisations for practising accountants, an increasing proportion of their members were engaged in other fields. The study reveals the potential difficulties in devising governance structures which are reactive to the changing interests and characteristics of institute memberships. Another key finding is the embarrassing consequences for the profession’s leaders of failing to listen to their own constituents.”
He concludes that “This monograph, emanating from the Institute’s Accounting History Committee, is an important contribution to our understanding of a formative event in the post-war history of the UK accountancy profession. The messages it conveys remain relevant today as the accountancy bodies continue to review their organisation.”
