ABSTRACT
The study of the military and their accounting has reflected the essential political nature and purpose of armies. Accounting historians have suggested that the circumstance of war and military culture have played a role in the evolution of cost accounting. Recognising the pervasive, malevolent presence of military force throughout history and the consequences of the exercise of this force, extant accounting histories with the military as their subject are preoccupied with the political motives and alarms which have determined military accounting practices and the consequences of these for military performance. The proven uncertain allegiances of military forces throughout history and the terrible consequences of the use of military force to oppress fellow citizens requires that the relationship between the military and the citizenry is something with which all societies have to deal effectively. The authority of Parliament in all matters of military finance subsequent to the revolutionary settlement in 1689 effectively meant that only Parliament could raise an army.
