ABSTRACT
The professional programs that the IA promoted were appealing to many bookkeepers because they were responsive to serious problems associated with working as a bookkeeper. Many of the IA’s bookkeepers were likely concerned about their marginal economic status (see the discussion in “Compensation vs. Services,” 1881, pp. 136-137). Bookkeepers, for example, likely were sensitive to their relative low rate of pay as compared to other business specialists such as salesmen (“Compensation vs. Services,” 1881, pp. 136-137). Thus, bookkeepers were vulnerable to destitution should they become unemployed. A sensitivity to this insecurity was reflected in the above-noted goals of establishing life insurance and employment referral services (also see Webster, 1954, p. 12).
