ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the course of accounting in the United States down to recent times. It considers the ancient history of the American profession. The date 1895 was chosen as marking the end of an era lacking in legal recognition for the profession. Though several accounting firms had already been formed, there is no record of a professional attempt to have the practice of public accountancy recognized on a national level. The public accounting engagements in the American colonies during the eighteenth century were doubtless performed in one or more of the commercial towns on the Atlantic seaboard during one of the commercial crises, and they were probably connected with some of the principal businessmen of that time. It is clear that the early American authors and teachers sought engagements as public accountants. It is probable that persons from other activities, especially from banking and insurance, were from time to time called in for public accounting service.
