Paul and Mackersy, accountants, 1818-34: public accountancy in the early nineteenth century

The purpose of this paper is to present a contextualised history of a Scottish public accountancy firm in the first half of the nineteenth century. The minute book of a private dining club identifies the employees of Paul and Mackersy, Accountants of Edinburgh from 1818 to 1834, and national archives provide data on the firm's client services as well as the careers and other activities of its partners, clerks and apprentices. The study also observes financial matters consequent to the deaths of Lindsay Mackersy in 1834 and William Paul in 1848. The paper uniquely reveals the structure and operations of a leading training firm in the early period of the modern history of Scottish public accountancy, its strong association with the legal profession and landownership, the contemporary jurisdiction of public accountants, and the potential for practitioners to fail despite their elite professional status.