International congresses of accountants in the twentieth century: a French perspective

Approximately 40 international congresses of accountants took place between 1889 and 2002. Before World War II, accountants were divided between two international networks: a group of Latin countries and a group led by the USA. Only the latter continued their activity after World War II. From that time onwards, there are two distinct periods: the period 1952–1977 saw ‘the rise’ of the profession to an international level; after 1977, the transformation of networks into permanent organisations (the International Accounting Standards Committee and the International Federation of Accountants) initiated ‘the fall’ of international congresses of accountants, which progressively became mere ‘accounting fairs’. The research method used in this paper involves a critical analysis of congress proceedings, professional journals and interviews.