Du teneur de livres au comptable. Le regard de quelques écrivains européens

The way of organizing accounting did not interest many researchers in accounting. The article tries to fill this gap. It puts forward the transition from the bookkeeper to the accountant by the exploration of twelve European novels of the 19th and 20th century. This is not only a change of words but also an opposition of two conceptions that brings to the fore the characteristic of the modern accountant. On the one hand, there is the bookkeeper which is estimated for his moral conduct and his high fidelity to his boss. On the other hand, there is the modern accountant who should be more and more effi cient and whose status is declining. Between these two models, during a transition period, we explore the roots of the modern accountant.