The purpose of this paper is to use an historical lens to assess the prospect for West’s (2003) challenge to accountants that, in order to halt the demise of accountancy as a profession, there is a need for a body of knowledge with sufficient cognitive authority to generate accounting numbers that are functionally fit for use. The paper uses two origins of modern accounting to consider West’s challenge. These are double-entry bookkeeping and accountancy professionalization, both argued to be primary influences on the current state of accounting and the accountancy profession. The historical consequences of both origins are observed as an ambiguous relationship between the accountancy profession and the state, an accounting practice without a coherent and consistent theory, and accounting research that is largely irrelevant to practitioners and standard-setters. The paper concludes that, unless accountants identify and control an authoritative body of accounting knowledge, there is little prospect for halting the demise of accountancy as a professionalized occupation. The paper suggests that an appropriate conduit to identify an authoritative body of knowledge is accounting research and a relevant means to control it is the social closure of accounting education and training programmes.
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