In a recent critique of early US cost accounting practice, Hoskin and Macve (1996) conclude that Lawrence Manufacturing Company's 1848 cost accounting reports were purely mercantile and provided no managerial utility. Despite finding mathematically exact allocations and unit costs for different...

This article describes the relationship between the understanding and practice of standard costing in both the U.S. and the U.K. and discusses the development of specific practices in the immediate post-World War II period. Based on a detailed review of the post-war literature, the authors...