The Accountant’s Social Background and Stereotype in Popular Culture: The Novels of Alexander Clark Smith

Abstract

Purpose The paper explores the origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction. It addresses calls for studies of the changing popular representation of the accountant (Hopwood, 1994; Carnegie and Napier, 2010). Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the detective novels of the Scottish chartered accountant Alexander Clark Smith as a lens by which to view competing theories about the origins of Scottish chartered accountants, and to explore the multi-dimensional character of the protagonist, as well as portrayals of other accountants.

Findings The novels contribute to our understanding both of the construction of accounting stereotypes and of the social origins of Scottish professional accountants. Smith novels suggest that while working class access to the profession was a reality, so was class division within it. In addition, Smith was ahead of the prevalent professional discourse of his time in creating an accountant protagonist who combines the positive aspects of the traditional stereotype with qualities of a private-eye action-hero, but this may have been incongruent with the image a still emergent accounting profession wished to portray.

Originality/value The portrayal of accountants in personal and societal settings at a time of profound social change, as well as the author’s background in the Scottish profession, provide a rich source for the study of social origins of Scottish chartered accountancy during the first half of the twentieth century. Further, Smith’s novels are of a popular genre; as such they merit attention because of their potential to influence the construction of the accounting stereotype(s) within the popular imagination.

Keywords: Fiction, Novels, Class, Recruitment, Stereotype, Profession