Accountancy's crooked past ...
By Shelly Simonds Reading through the yellowing pages of 19th century bank records might sound dull to most, but Prof Russell Craig believes his research into the history of accounting provides the perfect script for a Hollywood movie. Prof Craig, of the Department of Commercein the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, said the early pioneers of accounting in Australia included enough bad guys to cast a western - including the murderer who is alleged to have opened the first school to teach double-entry accounting; the convicted embezzler who was the first to introduce a comprehensive system of double-entry bookkeeping methods and the compulsive thief who appears to be the first person described as an "accountant" to be transported here. Accounting is one of Australia's major professions, yet few, if any, contemporary accountants could name one of the pioneers responsible for the development of accounting in Australia. "My work has been directed to identifying these unsung and, before now, largely unknown pioneers," Prof Craig said. "I've found a rich stew of lively characters, whose villainy was never far behind them, and have chronicled their exploits. These pioneers and the accounting artefacts they have bequeathed should not be taken for granted. Their historical significance deserves greater recognition," he said. One of his "stars", John Croaker, worked for several banks in England which used double-entry accounting - the system which underpins contemporary accounting practice - before being convicted of embezzling and transported to New South Wales. Prof Craig, who is completing a biography of Croaker, believes that Croaker played a pivotal role in establishing double-entry accounting practice. Another scoundrel in accounting's history was John Kenny, transported from Ireland in 1791. He and his brother are credited with operating a school teaching double-entry accounting in the Rocks district of Sydney in 1805. Prof Craig doubts the brothers taught any accounting, let alone the more sophisticated double-entry system. "John Kenny should not be accorded pedestal status as a pioneer teacher of accounting lightly. He appears to have been a volatile, violent man who had a propensity for getting into trouble and ultimately was hanged for committing a gruesome murder at Parramatta," Prof Craig said. A third colourful character, Thomas Ayliffe Gee, listed his occupation as "accountant" in an advertisement in the Sydney Gazette in 1814. Transported to Sydney for embezzling £1,300 from an employer, he was sentenced twice more for stealing, including taking three cases of gin from his employer, Vickers Jacob, in 1823. Given the reputation of Australian commerce as being a haven for dubious corporate reporting practices and "creative" accounting, Prof Craig finds the discovery of these shady historical characters gloriously ironic.