Is management accounting just what management accountants do? Implicit cost analysis on Britain's railways c.1923-1939

This paper explores how railway companies performed the management accounting function during the first part of the twentieth century. It will be argued that only by understanding the relationship between management techniques and the business process can any judgement as to the quality of management decisions be reached. Through the medium of educational material, the development of train control and railway statistics is explored. It is argued that implicit marginal costing was obtained from non-financial information outside the realm of accounting. This was due to the specific conditions and complexity of operations faced by railway managers. This is then contrasted with the limited, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempts by accountants at the Railway Clearing House to cost services.