Management accounting in its social context: Rimailho revisited

The homogeneous sections method prescribed by the Plan comptable general (the French national accounting plan) since its origin is commonly attributed to the influence of the Rimailho Report (1928, in its final version). An in-depth analysis of the processes and management systems Rimailho set up, described in minute detail in his major works, has led to the belief that he was the pioneer of a certain type of the activity-based costing method. But other aspects of his work are far more interesting. With Rimailho, accountancy plays a role which is closely linked to his political and social convictions. Rimailho's management accounting appears as the strategic tool in a type of corporate regulation involving organizational slack, possible in a defender 's strategy deployed in a specific competitive and technological environment. Rimailho's organization does not fit into today's standard typologies (Anthony, Woodward, Ouchi, etc.). It is an appropriate challenge for researchers in accounting and management control.