THE DEVELOPMENT OF GROUP ACCOUNTING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO 1933

The publication of consolidated accounts is an early example of innovative financial reporting procedures being introduced by U.S. companies before they were adopted in the U.K., where Nobel Industries (1922) is generally cited as the first holding company to prepare economic entity based financial reports. This paper produces evidence which shows that the publication of consolidated accounts, by British companies, began at least as early as 1910. Our research nevertheless confirms the generally held view that U.S. developments occurred earlier, and we explore a range of possible explanations for this phenomenon.