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Where have France’s Accountants come from ?. A short presentation by Carlos Ramirez Department of Accounting and Management Control HEC Paris. The French profession as you ( maybe ) know it. 18 570 professionals Founded in 1945… well, actually 1942. 19 303 professionals
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WherehaveFrance’sAccountants come from? A short presentation by Carlos Ramirez Department of Accounting and Management Control HEC Paris
The French profession as you(maybe) know it 18 570 professionals Founded in 1945… well, actually 1942 • 19 303 professionals • Founded in 1969
Why are theretwoFrench Professions? • Accounting vs auditing: for a very long time, audit and accounting have been two separate things in France • Clochemerle: although both institutions have been headed successively by the same men, they have been, until recently, very often at war • “Deuxfois plus de légionsd’honneur…”
Why are French accountantsso few? • Turf battles: an history of exclusion before recognition • Sole practice as a model: from the expert in accounting to the expert-comptable • Lesserbrothers: generally, a lack of or verybelatedinterestfrom the State in the development of a strongaccountancy profession
Why have relations between certain (Anglo-American) firms and French professional institutions been at times uneasy? • Worldsapart: a presence in France that dates back a long time but a more recentinterest in the French market for professional services • Wars of attrition: fromconfronting the invaders to developping an alternative professional model • Winners take all: innerworkings of the domination of the Big 4 firms on the French profession
Whyisitinteresting to studythe historyof French accountants? • An attemptatfilling a gap in sociological and historicalknowledge • A betterunderstanding of what cultural differencesmean • A global perspective: fromcomparison to confrontation