Accounting for labor in the early 19th century: The U.S. arms making experience

The Springfield armory was the largest and among the most important prototypes of the modern factory establishment, and its accounting controls were the most sophisticated in use before the 1840\u27s (Chandler, 1977). Until that time, the armory\u27s accounting system did not integrate piece-rate accounting and a clock-regulated workday into prespecified norms of output. Hoskin & Macve (1988) have argued that accounting was unable to establish norms, increase labor productivity, and thus attain its full disciplinary power until a West Point managerial component was established in the 1840\u27s. They then called for further discourse to verify or refute this contention