The search for unity in the French accountancy profession, 1969-1996

The French accountancy profession is represented by two principal professional organisations, one comprising experts-comptables, or chartered accountants, and the other commissaires aux comptes, or auditors. Following the organisation of the audit profession in 1969, attempts have been made to form a single accountancy profession. The paper analyses the unsuccessful attempts to achieve unification from the 1970s to the 1990s. It is shown that the motivation for unification mutated over the focal period. Changing organisational elites played significant roles in furthering and hindering attempts at merger. The intervention of the state was a source of confusion and added complexity to professional discourses. The existence of unions (syndicats) and associations within the professional organisations is revealed as a peculiar and significant feature of professional configurations in France. The increasing presence of large international firms in France also impacted on the debate. Despite increased cooperation between the two professional groups, unification was not achieved. Divergent visions of the professional model, personal differences between organisational actors and the fragmentation of interests within the two professions ensured the preservation of organisational separatism.