The Field of Accounting PDF

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
The field of accounting: exploring the presence and absence of accounting in Cambodia
Prem Yapa Kerry Jacobs Bopta Chan Huot
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THE FIELD OF ACCOUNTING:
EXPLORING THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF ACCOUNTING
IN CAMBODIA
ABSTRACT
1 Introduction
While authors have presented the rise of the accounting profession as a response to the rise
and development of industrial society, some have argued that it is a way to preserve and
reproduce privilege and others have seen it as an expression of external forces associated
with colonialism, domination and globalisation.
In this paper we explore the presence and absence of accounting in Cambodia, a location
where both the progression of industrial society and the security of personal and economic
interests have been significantly perturbed and a variety of significant external pressures
have been evident from the colonial influence of the French, Japanese rule, American
domination and the pluralistic influence of globalisation with the arrival of internal
corporate interests and global professional associations in the form of the ACCA.
While we acknowledge a rich intellectual tradition which has focused on professional

accounting associations we seek to extend this by seeing these associations as
representations and aggregations of the struggles of particular groups (Bourdieu and
Wacquant, 1992, p 242). We seek to consider accountants (be they or be they not
professionally credentialed) and accounting practices across both the public and the private
sector (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, p 242). The objective is to extend our
understanding of accounting beyond the focus on the professional association to consider
internal and external conflicts and struggles associated with the field of accounting. These
struggles are explored in the context of Cambodia.
There is an extensive body of work which has argued that the ‘birth’ of professional
accounting bodies and the market for accounting labour, reflects the social context and the
level of industrialization of a society. These studies have documented the emergence of the
profession accounting bodies (Garrett, 1961; The Institute of Chartered Accountants of
England and Wales, 1965; Howitt, 1966) and have tied the rise of these bodies (and
associated accounting practices) to the functional needs associated with the rise and
1
development of these industrial societies (Hoskin & Macve, 1986; 1994; Sikka and
Willmott, 1995; Willmott, 1986; Burchell et, al. 1985; Walker, 1991; 1995). However,
there has also been a growing interest a more critical analysis which explores the struggles
involved in creating these professional bodies (e.g. Willmott, 1986; Walker, 1995; and
Chua and Poullaos, 1998; 2002) as the practices of accounting are not restricted to
members of professional accounting associations and it is the ability to claim the title
‘chartered accountant’ and to restrict the work of others that constituted a key motivation to
many professionalization initiatives.
This interest in the wider social, institutional and political context of accounting has
extended beyond the focus on the rise of professional bodies in developed countries to
consider less developed countries where the needs of an industrial society is not the only
factor. It has been argued that in these settings colonialism, domination globalisation and
national interests can also be powerful drivers for the rise of accounting (see Poullaos and
Uche, 2012).
In this paper we seek to map the field of accounting across the institutional and political
changes experienced by Cambodia. While professionalization projects are one possible
strategy, these are no more inevitable then imposition of certain institutional forms under
colonial regimes or arrangements associated with the growth of particular accounting
bodies associated with the corporate entrepreneurship of international globalisation.
While there is a clear archetype of institutional transfer and post-colonial influence evident
in the accountancy professionalization process following British colonialism, there has
been relatively little study of the relation between colonisation and accounting in other
settings, particularly those who had a radical revolution pathway. In this paper we
recognise that there different phrases or types of influence which alternative facilitate (or
retard) both the practice of accounting and the emergence of distinctly identifiable
accounting groups.
2 Trajectories of Accounting
The trajectories of the accounting profession and processes of professionalization have been
extensively explored in the literature and the much of this work has focused on the internal
struggles and interests that drive the historical work around the creation of these kinds of
groups. Lee (1996, p. 193) suggests that despite claims to the public interest that it was
2
actually personal and economic interest that drove the rise of professional accounting
associations in the UK and the USA. The basis of this self interest has been the
maintenance and transfer of class privilege which was central to both the historical
emergence of the Scottish accounting profession and the development of the English
professional bodies (Walker, 1991, 1995). Studies of the development of professional
bodies in settler colonies have also highlighted the important place of class and social status
(Chua and Poullaos, 1998), while Jacobs (2003) illustrates the ongoing influence of class
on contemporary professional associations. Hines (1989) makes the point that it is the claim
to possess, rather than the actual possession, of a body of knowledge that lies at the basis of
the social recognition of the profession.
In their study of the formation of the accounting profession within the US, Preston et al.
(1995, p. 517) argue that by subscribing to political and moral ideals of the day, the
accounting profession sought to legitimise its activities and have acquired the status and
privilege of a profession. Both O’Leary and Boland (1987) and Ramirez (2001) also
emphasise the importance of the mechanisms social standing and social perception of
accountants in acquiring professional status. In turn Hoskin and Macve (1986, 1994)
highlight the importance of examinational system as a tool of social perception
management and institutional legitimating.
In contrast there is a body of work which has explored the place of accounting within soviet
and socialist settings. Generally the professional associations were disbanded and
discouraged while practices of accounting continued as part of state and public
management. Bailey (1992) shows that there were serious efforts to formalise accounting
practice and to establish professional accounting bodies under Tsarist pre-soviet Russia.
However, accountants were decimated by the Stalinist attacks on ‘bourgeois specialists in
all spheres of public life’ (Bailey, 1992, p. 20). Jaruga (1990) suggests that while
professional associations were discouraged there were forms of State education and
certification of accountants in a number of the soviet countries such as the USSR and
Poland and that accounting was practiced in the forms of budgetary, control and monitoring
functions as part of the state management. Similar use of accounting as a tool of public
management are evident in Seal et al’s (1996) analysis of the development of the
accounting in the Czech Republic and in Hao (1999) and Yee’s (2009) studies of the re-
emergence of the accounting in China. Hao (1999, p.293) suggests that the Chinese CPAs
did not proactively organize themselves to become a professional association but was
3
created by state regulation to assist the state. Therefore the story of accounting cannot be
restricted to a focus on processes of professionalization by accounting associations as
accounting practices can also emerge beyond the space of self interest in response to the
actions of the state.
There has also been some work to extend the focus on national dynamics to explore how
types of external domination or influence drove both practices and institutions of
accounting. The most obvious example is research which has focused on the establishment
of accounting institutions within ex-British colonies (Chua and Poullaos, 2002; Poullaos
and Uche, 2012). Poullaos and Uche, (2012, p. 76) argue that the pre-independence
economic activities of these countries were dominated by British firms, funded by British
capital, following British laws and organised to serve British interests. Therefore, in this
context accountancy is seen as ‘a vehicle for the dissemination of British institutions and
practices’ Sian (2010, p. 21) and both practices and institutions of accounting as tools of
colonialism.
Annisette (1999) presents the establishment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of

Tobago and Trinidad (ICATT) as an attempt by the post independence government of
Trinidad and Tobago to shift the control of the accounting profession away from British
expatriates to locals. Therefore the state intervention in the education and registration of
accounting practitioners was intended to create pathways for post-colonial change.
However, Annisette (2000, p.655) argued that this decolonising agenda failed as the British
accounting bodies continued to exercise influence as the ICATT surrendered the control of
their knowledge functions to the UK based ACCA. Similar dynamics were also evident in
Jamaica where early attempts to create a more autonomous profession were thwarted by
local accountants and by the ACCA. The British influence over the Jamaican profession
was so effective that the ACCA were described as the ‘caretaker’ of the profession prior to
independence and were the ‘landlord’ afterwards (Bakre, 2005, p. 996). Despite attempts to
escape colonial influences local accounting practices and professional associations remain
strongly linked and influenced by the professional associations of the departed British
colonial power.
Indeed the nature of this colonial (or perhaps post-colonial) influences can extend well
beyond the professional associations. Poullaos and Uche (2012, p. 81) argue that post-
independence access to international capital, the associated influx of international business,
international standardisation associated with international financial accounting standards
4
and the simple demands associated with the costs of training and education (and the relative
disinterest in other professional accounting British or American accounting bodies to
expand overseas) provided the ACCA a tremendous opportunity to expand into developing
and transitional nations.
When there was a measure of autonomy and independence in the development of local
post-independence accounting bodies there were also less direct forms of influence. Yapa,
(2010, p. 141) and Verma and Gray, (2006) found that in Sri Lanka and India the post-
independence accounting associations modelled their structures, arrangements and
examination practices on the UK professional bodies. Poullaos and Uche (2012) also
suggest that the professional structures inherited from the British were maintained because
they delivered privilege and benefits to the middle class post-independence.
However, this colonial and post colonial literature privileges the British story and there are
relatively few examples of the institutional accounting and professional legacy of the other
colonial powers. To that extent, Cooper and Robson’s (2006, p. 420) call to further
understand the development of ‘accountancy’ in Japan, India and China and in the former
colonies of Germany, Italy and Spain (and we would add France) has not yet been well
addressed. However, there have been a few papers which have pushed beyond the British
and post-British focus. Although the Philippians were once a French Colony, it has
primarily been controlled and dominated by the Americans. Dyball et al. (2007) challenge
the colonial transfer thesis and argue the growth of a recognisable accounting profession
Philippians was a form of local resistance to American influence and the mobilisation of the
American CPA designation.
While there has been some excellent work on accounting in Africa, this has predominantly
focused on countries which were under British rule. Bush and Maltby (2004) explore the
role of accounting in the British colonial administration in West Africa, Sian (2007)
colonial accounting and emergent professional bodies in Kenya, Okike (2004) in Nigeria
and Hammond et al. (2009) with the transition from apartheid to political freedom in South
Africa. Gallhofer et al.’s (2011) study of Syria breaks new ground because although having
a long and rich history, Syria came under French control in 1920. Although a treaty of
independence was negotiated in 1936, practical independence was not secured until 1946.
Other interesting features of Syria were the Arab context, the socialist regime and the
political alignment to USSR. Syria established a state run accounting body in 1958 – the
ASCA. Gallhofer et al. (2011, p. 379) argued that this was modelled on the Egyptian body
5
but was ‘weak and underdeveloped’ and it looks similar to the state controlled institutions
found in the USSR and other soviet countries. It was not until the 1990 and 2000s, with the
growth of a stock exchange, a greater connection with the international investing
community and the establishment of accounting standards, that the ASCA really developed;
gaining some control over the certification and examination of accountants and membership
started to expand (Gallhofer et al. 2011, p. 380).
Therefore the emergence of accounting bodies are not necessarily a response to

industrialisation or to the self-interest of professional groups (as shown by Annisette (1999)
and Gallhofer et al. (2011) ) but could also be sponsored by the state. This state
sponsorship might simply be a form of post-colonial human resource development program
as seen as seen in Brunei (Yapa, 1999) and in Thailand (Pholkeo and Yapa, 2012a,b) or it
could be a more explicit decolonisation strategy. Examples of this are evident in some
African countries where the accounting profession was actively reorganised to shift
membership away from the white expatriates and towards Africans to ‘Africanise’ the
profession as part of a broader project of replacing expatriates with Africans (Sian 2007;
2010; Bakre, 2001; 2005; 2006; 2010; Uche, 2002; 2010; Dessalegn et al., 2012).
While local struggles of class and emergent institutional groups to maintain their privilege
provide a powerful tool to explain the rise of professional accounting associations in the
UK and the US, there are more diverse processes in play in other contexts that require a
shift from a primary focus on professionalization and on the local dynamics to consider a
broader framing which consider practices, institutions, actors and influences at both the
local and the international level. As such both the national and institutional boundaries blur
as UK professional bodies such as ACCA are acting on an increasingly international level
and in many settings state (and post-colonial interests) suggest that the nature and structure
of accounting entities may be strongly influenced by wider political and economic agendas.
As such we argue that the field of accounting cannot simply be understood in terms of
professional associations and professioonalisation projects but rather that the space of
competition and struggle the accounting field cannot be separated from broader processes
of empire, post-coloniality, domination and globalisation. As such seek to respond to
respond to Bourdieu and Wacquant’s (1992, p. 242) challenge to transcend the ‘folk
concept’ of profession defined in terms of the professional bodies who bear the name
‘accountants’ and to instead explore a profession as a field defined by a space of
competition and struggle.
6
We also acknowledge the possibility that rather than being a space of competition and
struggle that the accounting field could also be empty (Choudhury, 1988; Jacobs and
Kemp, 2002; Catasús, 2008). In this paper, we explore the case of the field of accounting
in Cambodia which represents a special and particularly trajectory which combines the
struggle between internal interests, French colonial rule, radical Marxist revolution,
socialist government and market economy. Because of these changes Cambodia provides
an interesting insight into the place of accounting at the nexus of the growth of an industrial
society, colonialism, social groups, state control and globalisation.
3. Understanding an accounting field
The significance of internal actors is well recognised in the sociology of profession

literature which highlights how professionalism can be defined (as a social structure) and
how occupations professionalise (through what process) (for example, see Vollmer and
Mills, 1996; Freidson, 1994; Abbott, 1988; Siegrist, 1990; Turner and Hodge, 1970;
Larson, 1977; Collins, 1979; Macdonald, 1995). In particular Freidson (1994) highlight the
elements or characteristics of professions and Abbott (1988) focuses more on the struggle
between different professional groups over areas of jurisdiction. However, these
approaches tend to focus on the actions of (and in relation to) professional associations not
the broader social space.
Imperialism (see Said, 1993, p.9) has been widely used as a theoretical tool to explore the
broad factors associated with the expansion of the accounting institutions and practices
associated with colonialism. Said (1993) defines the imperialism as “… the practice, the
theory, and the attitude of a dominating metropolitan center ruling the distance territory and
‘colonialism’ as a virtually inevitable consequence of this imperialism” (Said, 1993, p.9).
However, with the end of the ‘age of imperialism’ and most colonies gained independence,
imperialism (and by implication the imperial powers) continue to exercise cultural
influence in foreign lands through cultural influences (Said, 1993).
Johnson (1982) presents the notion that groups, such as the accounting profession, could
function as ‘imperial bodies’ serving “imperial interests” even post-independence.
Authors such as Davie (2000) and Annisette and Neu (2004) support that notion,
representing accounting as part of this “imperial body’ during times of direct colonial
control and also function as forms of cultural domination when more direct forms of
7
colonial control disappear. In that sense the institutions of accounting (professional bodies)
can exercise influence.
One element of this post-independence influence is exercised through what Fanon (1963, p.
152-154) called the ‘national bourgeoisie’, which include the small businesses people,
lawyers, doctors, traders and accountants. Fanon (1963, p. 154) saw this group as the
barrier to revolutionary change and the handmaiden of western enterprise.
Because it is bereft of ideas, because it lives to itself and cuts itself off from the
people, undermined by its hereditary incapacity to think in terms of all the problems
of the nation as seen from the point of view of the whole of that nation, the national
middle class will have nothing better to do than to take on the role of the manager
for Western enterprise, and it will in practice set up its country as the brothel of
Europe (Fanon, 1963, p. 154).
From Fanon’s (1963) the social group, and by extension the function that accountants play
in supporting Western business enterprise was a core element of both colonial (and by
implication post-colonial) exploitation. Through a process of change and revolutionary
transition it might be expected that groups of accountants would disappear as observed in
soviet settings. However, the role of accounting as a practice remains somewhat
ambiguous. From this perspective the work of Lenin (1917, Ch 5.4) is particularly
interesting because while he argued that while ‘accounting’ in the form of professional
associations had little place accounting practices were necessary to a communist society
under the socialist revolution.
Therefore from a research perspective there are a number of different potential elements in
play. Clearly there is a potential that elements of a professional association could emerge
from struggles between key groups within Cambodian society. While elements of
professional associations (and the associated practitioners) could form part of the colonial
or post-colonial Cambodian society, it is extremely unlikely that these would have survived
the rise of the Khmer Rouge. However, it is also probable that as a centrally controlled
regime (and subsequently under Vietnamese control) that accounting would have remerged
much in the way seen in other soviet controlled countries. The place of accounting within
the transition to a market economy remains unclear. Existing literature would suggest three
different alternatives (1) the creation and rise of a state-supported local body (2) the re-
establishment of professional institutions associated with the historical colonial power
(France) or (3) the growth of professional bodies directly linked to globalised professional
associations.
8
This research is based on an analysis of secondary sources and interviews conducted in
Cambodia between 2006 and 2007 with officials of the KICPAA (Kampuchea Institute of
Certified Public Accountants and Auditors)1, accounting practitioners, former Head of State
and academics in Cambodia. In particular an effort was made to identify and interview
Khmer Rouge leaders and survivors to address the question about the nature of accounting
and the accounting field more broadly is Cambodia. We acknowledge an inherent
challenge as it remains difficult to distinguish between an absence of accounting activity
and an absence or records on an accounting activity many professionals left the country or
were killed and a significant proportion of pre Khmer Rouge records were destroyed.
However, we would contend that this challenge should not prevent the study of the
Cambodian case, but rather moderate and refine the degree of certainty of the conclusions.
See Appendix 1 for the background information about the respondents of this study.
It is the multiple and multi-facetted transition in Cambodia from agriculture, through

French colonialism, war, socialism and then to increasingly globalised developing economy
(with the emergence of a recognisable professional association) which makes this such an
interesting (and disturbing) case for our understanding of the field of accounting.
4. Cambodian Context
Cambodia has secured membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has
become an important player in Asia and in trade given its geographic location in the lower
Mekong region between Thailand in the west, Vietnam in the east, and Lao PDR in the
north. Yet Cambodia remains one of the world's least developed countries, with an
estimated GDP in 2005 of between US$393 to US$448 per capita, a population about 11
million, a predominantly rural and agricultural economy, a life expectancy of 59 years and
an infant mortality of 96 per thousand births. Cambodia ranks as one of the poorest
countries in the world.
While Pol Pot2 and the Khmer Rouge3 regime might be the best known conflict in the West,
Cambodia has experienced a relatively long period of conflict with its neighbours. In
1
In March 2003 the KICPAA was established by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. See section 5.7 of this paper for
details of this body.
2
French-educated Saloth Sar (later known as Pol Pot) (middle class leftist) with others (Son Sen, Ieng Sary) organized
uprising against the government of King Sihanouk – Cambodia. See “How Pol Pot came to power” by Kiernan, (2004).
3
The term "Khmer" generally refers to the dominant ethnic group in Cambodia. "Cambodia" and "Cambodge" are
Europeanized spellings of "Kampuchea," a country with several ethnic groups, including Chinese, Chams (Muslims),
9
around 1000CE the Khmer Empire ruled much of the region which is now occupied by
Thailand and Vietnam. However between the 1600s and 1800s Cambodia declined and
both Thailand (Siam) and Vietnam grew in power. During this period much of Cambodia
was partitioned with the Angkor region in the West annexed by Thailand and Vietnam
moving into the Mekong Delta in the North East. Cambodia was first under the protectorate
of Thailand and then following invasion under the control of Vietnamese. In effect
Cambodia was a buffer State in the conflict between Thailand and Vietnam.
In 1863 Norodom4 invited the French to establish a colonial protectorate over Cambodia in
an attempt to escape the control from Thailand and the growing conflict between Thailand
and Vietnam. This protectorate granted the French the right to explore and exploit the
Kingdom’s mineral and forest resources (Ross, 1987). However, in 1884 the French
authorities forced Norodom to sign a treaty which gave the French control over the
administration and finances of Cambodia and imposed changes such as the abolition of
slavery and the institution of private land ownership. This treaty and control over Cambodia
formed the basis for the French colonial expansion in the region. Subsequently they took
control of Vietnam, took Laos and Angkor from Thailand and in 1887 proclaimed the
Union Indochinese (French Indochina).
During World War II the defeat of the French by the Germans and the subsequent setting
up of Vichy government allowed Thailand to reclaim lost territories and Japan to take
control of Indochina. By the end of the war the French attempted to regain control of
Indochina but were forced to offer partial independence in 1953. This was strengthened in
1954 by the Geneva Conference on Indochina which also led to the withdrawal of the
Vietnamese Viet Mihn troops. Part of the cost of the troop withdrawal was a policy of
neutrality between the communists and the Americans. In 1955 Sihanouk abdicated in
favour of his father in order to become elected as Prime Minister. He later became head of
State taking the title of Prince. During the 1960s Sihanouk tried to keep Cambodia neutral
as U.S forces intervened in the war in neighbouring Vietnam. However, in 1970 while he
was on a trip abroad he was overthrown by a military coup lead by the Prime Minister
Khmers, Malays, and Vietnamese. "Kampuchea," in turn, is a modernized version of "Kambuja," the Khmer name first
used in the tenth century (Haas, 1991).
4
King of Cambodia from 1860 to 1904. He was considered to be the first modern Khmer king. He was credited with
saving Cambodia from disappearing altogether. In 1863, to prevent the two powerful neighbors, Vietnam and Thailand,
from swallowing Cambodia altogether he invited France to make Cambodia its protectorate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_of_Cambodia (accessed 23.11.12)
10
General Lon Nol5 and supported by the US. Sihanouk settled in China and urged his
followers to overthrow the pro-US government of Lon Nol. Between 1969 and 1973 the
Republic of Vietnam and the US forces bombed and briefly invaded Cambodia in an effort
to disrupt the communist forces of the Viet Kong and the Khmer (Khmer Rouge) Insurgents
(KI). By 1973, half a million tons bombs had killed over 100,000 people and devastated
the Cambodian country side (Kiernan, 1985). However, the bombing tended to increase
rather than decrease support for the Khmer Rouge forces and further undermine the Lon
Nol government. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge backed by the Chinese and led by Pol Pot
reached the capital Phnom Penh and took power. They evacuated the cities and sent the
population to work on farms, discarding western notions and targeting professions such as
doctors, lawyers, teachers and any accountants. This was a time of genocide which became
known as the killing fields.
In 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia to stop the Khmer Rouge incursions across their
border and the genocide in Cambodia. Armed conflict between the Khmer Rouge and the
Vietnamese forces continued until a peace settlement and a United Nations ceasefire was
signed in 1991. In 1991 Prince Sihanouk returned to Cambodia and in 1993 he was
restored as King and a new constitution was established as a basis for a parliamentary
democracy. In 2004 Sihanouk abdicated the throne in favour of his son Sihamoni.
We acknowledge that the task of establishing plausible historical periods of history are
problematic as the point where there divisions are made is ultimately the subjective
judgement of the authors. However to facilitate discussion and evaluation we adopt the
convention of dividing the changes into a number of periods (as shown in Table 1) which
reflect the different social and institutional structures in place which could be expected to
influences on the nature of accounting practices and the structure of accounting institutions.
Our first period covers both the time prior to 1863 and the period of French colonial
influence (between 1863 and 1953). During this period we would expect any accounting to
be linked to building and sustaining French colonial rule. However, while there seems to
be a clear role for accounting under British colonialism, the role under French rule is less
5
Following the 1966 elections General Lon Nol formed a new government with right wing support. This
government lasted till 1967. During 1968 and 1969, the insurgency worsened. Again in August 1969, Gen.
Lon Nol formed a new government.
11
clear. The second period relates to the post-colonial independence between 1953 and 1970.
On the whole we would expect to see local accounting associations to emerge in this post-
colonial space. However, it is unclear whether this is also true in a post-French setting. In
addition accounting may or may not be seen as a local human resource priority.
The third period reflects the US influence following the overthrow of the monarchy by
Military Coup. While the French code and legal system is still in place it is possible that
US influence would also spread to accountancy as experienced in the Philippians (Dyball et
al. 2007). The fourth period (1975-79) reflects the time that the Khmer Rouge was in
power and the place of accounting within this setting is contradictory (as already argued)
and poorly explored in existing literature. This is followed by a period of soviet style
government first under Vietnamese rule (1979-1989) and later under communist
government in Cambodia (1989-1993). However, the real transition in the accounting
practices occurred around 1991 when the communist model became progressively more
free-market orientated. Therefore we split this into period five (1979-1991) which was a
time of soviet accounting and period six (1991-present) which represent progressive
movement towards greater globalisation at an economic level and more typical form of
free-market accounting.
Table 1- Cambodian Political, Legal, and Economic Systems
Years Legal system Political system Political Power Economic

system
Before 1953 French-based Under French Held by the Colonial
civil code and protectorate French
judiciary
1953-1970 French-based Constitutional Held by Prince Market and
(The Kingdom civil code and Monarchy Norodom then
of Cambodia) judiciary Sihanouk as prime nationalized
minister
1970-1975 French-based Republic Held by Lon Nol Market, war
(The Khmer civil code and US influence economy
Republic) judiciary
1975-1979 Legal system All previous Khmer Rouge Agrarian,
(Democratic destroyed systems centrally
Kampuchea) abolished, planned
extreme Maoist
agro-communism
12
1979-1989 Vietnamese Communist party, Cambodian Central
(The people's communist central People's Party planning
Republic of model committee, and (Vietnamese
Kampuchea) local committees backed)
1989-1993 Greater Communist party, Cambodian Central
(The State of economic rights central People's Party planning
Cambodia) committee, and (Vietnamese
local committees backed)
1993-present French-based Constitutional Shared between Transition to
(The Kingdom civil code Monarchy FUNCINPEC* market
of Cambodia) combined with and the economy
common law in Cambodian
certain sectors People's Party
* National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia.
Source: ADB, 2001. Key Governance Issues in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam, [Online],
Available at: <URL: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Key_Governance_Issues/>, Accessed date:
August 19, 2003.
5. The Presence and Absence of Accountancy in Cambodia
5.1 Pre-Colonial and Colonial Accounting
While there is a long and established history of human settlement in the region now called
Cambodia between 68-550 CE Cambodia was part of a quasi-feudal trading structure of the
Funanese Empire and archaeological excavations show evidence of trade between
Cambodia, the Romans, the Persians, the Greek, the Chinese and the Indians. While there
was extensive trading and administrative records from the Fuanese unfortunately none of
these have survived. Eventually, Funan became a vassal State and declined, possibly due to
the decline of trade routes between China and India and the collapse of the trade routes
between China and the Mediterranean associated with the decline of the Roman Empire
with what was left of the area declining into many small principalities (Chandler, 2008).
While there might be historical practices of accounting it is clear that these did not
continue. However, trading activities did continue and this was dominated by the
Chinese who used basic record keeping methods for their trading activities. The
growth of Chinese traders led to the serious thinking in numbers which then lead to
Cambodia learning the Chinese calculation technique using wooden boards
(Interview, No. 9).
The French colonial authorities placed few restrictions on the Chinese and Chinese traders
and money lenders developed banking networks and trading links to the whole region.
Interviewees generally attributed the emergence of accounting in Cambodia to this Chinese
influence (Interviews, Nos. 6, 7, 8). However, both the Chinese business and their
13
accounting practices were mainly restricted to the Chinese community. These business
networks were an important resource to the Chinese community. In a broader sense the
field of accounting did not exist at this stage, but rather was a subordinate element of the
wider Chinese social and commercial relationships in Cambodia.
The first Western accounting system was imported into Cambodia in 19th century by the
French to support the colonial rule and the country’s legal and accounting system
developed along the lines of those in France. This would seem to be consistent with an
imperialist argument. In fact Lenin’s (1917) notion of imperialism being expressed as
exploitation of the poorer colonial country by the rich colonial power was true as there was
industrial development, trade or inward investment but accounting was mobilised to
support the foreign owned plantation cultivation of rubber, rice and corn (Ross, 1987;
UNCTAD, 2003) and the extraction of taxation out of subsistence village-based agriculture.
The Cambodians paid the highest per-capita tax in Indochina which generated unrest and
protest (Ross, 1987; Chan et al, 2007). During the main period of colonial rule there was
only limited education and the literacy rate fell with ninety years of colonial rule (Kiernan,
2004).
There was some evidence of preparation for independence with the forms of cultural
imperialism described by Said (1993), as the some of the locals who has prospered under
the colonial setting and were educated could provide their children with post - secondary
education and some chose to send them to university in France to read arts and science and
later proceed to the fields of law, engineering and medicine (Interview, No. 1). However,
there was no evidence that the accounting profession functioned in that role. In addition
there was little demand for accountants and what accounting there was - was undertaken by
French accountants or by French speaking Vietnamese rather than local Khmer (Ross,
1987). Therefore only a few Cambodians were ever trained to work as accountants in
French offices and small trading companies (Interview, No.2). Governed as part of French
Indochina any accounting rule was an extension of the existing French law and French
control of rules, expertise and status was unquestioned. As one of the interviewees put it:
The accounting profession in Cambodia during French rule is very small because
not many Cambodians are able to finish proper college because the education at that
time is very strict and not affordable to many Khmer people (Interview, No. 11).
In effect the French legal-compliance approach towards accounting (in contrast to the more
institutional approach associated with the professional associations in the UK) reduced the
14
probability of the emergence of visible accounting bodies. In addition the control over the
economic activities in Cambodia remained firmly in the hands of the French. Their
familiarity with French law and their inherent ‘linguistic competencies’ in French
constituted a hidden advantage. Under this structure the French control of the rules (legal
and financial), expertise and status remained unquestioned. Any accounting system or
practice within Cambodia under French colonial rule was entirely an application of existing
French laws and existed for the use for French companies engaged in the export of raw
materials. This does provide some logic for the critique of radical anti-colonial, anti-
imperialist thinkers such as Fanon (1963).
The Japanese presence during World War II and subsequent post - war attempts by the
French to regain control of their colonies did little to advance accounting. There was a law
passed on 4 April 1942 by the Vichy French colonial administration under Japanese
military occupation of Cambodia which applied French legislative accounting practices.
However, this was not a good time for the development of either non-military economic
activity or the professionalization of accountancy in Cambodia. Under the French
imperialism was primarily exercised through the administration and the control of finances
backed up by military with direct influence over key political figures such as the King.
There was less of an emphasis on what might be understood as forms of cultural
imperialism exercised through institutions of religion, education and procession when
compared to the British approach.
5.2 Post - Colonial Independence (1953 to 1970)

Following independence all enterprises were required to prepare their financial statements
based on the French accounting model. As a result the French companies involved in trade
and mercantile activities in Cambodia operated from France and French accountants carried
out the accounting record keeping function in Cambodia (Chan et al, 2007; National Bank,
2006). The Cambodian legal system was based on the French civil code and judges and the
approach to accounting practice was essentially legal with the Vichy law of 4 April 1942
and a subsequent decree of 12 August 1969 (Chan et al, 2007). A particular feature of the
accounting profession in France during the colonial period of Cambodia was the
organization of the accounting system under the Ordre des Experts-Comptables (OEC)
which was under the control of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). This
association was formed in 1942 and the members of the Ordre had legal monopoly on the
practice of accounting (Bocqueraz, 2001). Retaining the French legal structures,
15
institutions and accounting practices post-independence is consistent with findings from
earlier accounting research (Davie, 2000; Annisette and Neu, 2004) and the broader
argument from the post-colonialist / imperialist literature (Johnson, 1982; Said, 1993)
5.3 Post-Coup Vietnam War Period - US Influence (1970-1975)
During the period of the Vietnam War the influence of Americans on Cambodia grew. In
1965 Prince Sihanouk broke off diplomatic relations with Americans in response to
American and South-Vietnamese military incursions into the kingdom and growing
American influence on the Cambodian armed forces. Although diplomatic relations were
restored in 1969 this was strained following the American bombing of North Vietnamese
troops in Cambodia and in March 1970 the pro-American General Lon Nol overthrew the
government of Prince Sihanouk in a coup (See Table 1). By 1972 a new constitution was
adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. Following further U.S
bombing of Cambodia the country rapidly degenerated into a civil war and Prince Sihanouk
fled to Beijing and formed an alliance with the Cambodian communists against the Lon Nol
government (Clymer, 2004, p. 151).
Weinberg (1997, p. 163) noted that when the civil war started many of the professionals left
the country . . . doctors, intellectuals, and other professionals [including accountants] left
for the safety of France" (p. 163). Four years later, when the Khmer Rouge moved to take
power, hundreds more professional and affluent Cambodians had already left on "spurious
missions or seeking medical attention" (Weinberg, 1997). In addition approximately 4,700
Cambodians escaped and were subsequently admitted into the USA (Weinberg, 1997).
Many of the emergent professionals were able to mobilize their financial, social and
cultural capital to escape and those that remained were those who did not have access to
resources (or the skills to effectively use them). The civil war culminated in the defeat of
Lon Nol in April 1975 by the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge). Prince
Sihanouk returned from Beijing to Phnom Penh only to be placed under house arrest (Lum,
2007).
Despite the strong American influence in Cambodia during this period there was no
evidence of either American style accounting practices or the emergence of American
professional accounting associations. In fact with the advent of civil war and American
control the existing imperialist links with France were firmly dislodged and any emergent
16
operation of globalised capital undermined. There were more important concerns than
accounting professionalization.
5.4 Accounting and the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979)
It does not seem sensible to talk about this period in terms of imperialism or colonialism as
the change seemed to be such a fundamental and strong restraint with this narrative.
However, it does provide important insights into the role of accounting (and accountants) in
a post-colonial revolution and which, as Fanon (1963) argued, can be seen as part of the
colonial story.
During the period of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 (known as Democratic
Kampuchea) there were hardly any economic activities other than a ‘barter system’ with a
few countries of the communist bloc. In 1968, the Khmer Rouge launched a national
insurgency to overthrow the government. They seized power in April 1975, executed
intellectuals and enslaved the population in mass farming collectives. All business activities
across the country were abolished and condemned as anti-proletariat and anti-peasant.
During this period, the legal system was destroyed and a strict central planning system was
introduced. Eventually, Cambodia was isolated from the rest of the world and its people
were forced to live on substance agriculture.
In this context the nature of the French influence abruptly ceased. Many of the resources,
networks and skills which were valuable under French influence became useless. As any
evidence of education smacked of elitism, to stand up and name yourself as an accountant
would have been a death sentence. In a real and literal way accounting had gone
underground (or absent). However, as suggested by Jacobs and Kemp (2002) even in the
absence of accounting in a professional or structural sense accounting can be observed as a
practice. Survivors described the accounting in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime
as follows:
What is accounting? According to the theory I have learned, if there is no money

used - there is no accounting….. During Pol Pot’s regime no money was
used…..however, I saw they did a record on how many bags of rice are produced?
How many cows or buffalos on the day of work? How many people in each group
for the task? etc… and they reported it to the higher authority level. Is that
accounting? No ….I suppose it is not….but it is the accounting record kept during
that time (Senior staff member at the National Bank, Interview, No. 10)
While there was no formal accounting and no accounting profession, the absence of
accounting records and financial reporting were a product of the ‘stage’ of the revolution
17
rather than a philosophical rejection of money altogether. We interviewed Khieu Samphan
who was formerly the ‘Head of the State’ for the Khmer Rouge regime (and who has been
subsequently charged with genocide by the UN backed war crimes tribunal). He argued
that the lack of accounting was a timing issue.
Interestingly …there was no accounting during my regime, I was in charge of the

economy of the country but there was no work in the economic areas to work on
because the country’s policy was focused mainly on the agriculture… our new
revolution regime was so short (exactly… 3 years and 8 months and 20 days) so the
Economic Ministry wasn’t set up properly and the money was not issued for use.
We did plan to use money and we asked China to assist us to produce money but the
regime was over so soon (Interview, No.3).
Khieu Samphan completed a PhD in France, where he blamed the lack of economic and
industrial development in Cambodia on the wealthy industrialised states. During the time
in France, Khieu Samphan, Saloth Sar (Pol Pot) and other leading members of the Khmer
Rouge, had a study group where they read many of the key Marxist texts, including Lenin
(1917) and the writings of Stalin (Chandler, 1991, p. 54). Tyner (2008, p. 91) argues that
the work of Fanon (1963) may have also have had a significant influence on the Khmer
Rouge leadership. In the least it highly probable that Saloth Sar, Khieu Samphan and the
other Paris-educated Khmer students would have read Fanon (1963) as they strongly
supported his anti-colonial, anti-middle class and pro-violence position.
It is from this position that the genocidal approach to the remaining educated and middle
class (including accountants) in Cambodian society can be best understood. In effect their
forced relocation into the countryside was a necessary step to allow the revolution to
proceed. The other notable feature of the Khmer Rouge approach was the belief that the
transitional phases of communist State indentified and described by Lenin (1917) as ‘stage
1’ could be avoided and that Cambodia could achieve a “super great leap forward – and
achieve instant socialism crushing pre-existing histories, geographies and societies” (Tyner,
2008 p. 105). In that sense accountants were not required in the way conceived by Lenin
(1917) but (together with other elements of the middle class) were part of the problem
rather than part of the solution. This was reflected in the rather chilling distinction in the
Khmer Rouge thinking between the ‘new people’ who were agricultural labourers and the
old or ‘base’ people – which clearly related to the processional, the educated and the middle
class (see Chandler et al, 1988).
Yet the very operation and implementation of the four-year plan for transition into the
socialist ideal required accounting skills and expertise to drive the agricultural performance
18
and raise the average poverty level. These skills had been effectively suppressed destroyed.
Chandler (1991, p. 270) quotes an interview where a former CPK Cadre told Stephen Heder
that
The people did not have enough to eat or wear and worked to death. At the same
time there was too much subjectivism. The upper levels did not investigate the
concrete situation but simply sat in their offices, reading reports and believing them.
Meanwhile at the lower levels the cadres were [trying] to please the Centre and
hiding facts from it.
From that perspective it is wrong to say that there was no accounting. The effective
implementation of the four-year plan required accounting. However, the real problem was
the lack of accounting skills (and by implication the lack of accountants) which strongly
undermined the function of the country under the Khmer Rouge. The documents associated
with the four year plan (translated in Chandler et al, 1988) illustrate the centrality of the
rice harvest to Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and detailed performance targets for the
rice harvest and for the foreign exchange that would be earned when that harvest would be
sold (Chandler et al, 1988, p. 131-145). This was this critical because the Khmer Rouge
suggested that they had only a little financial aid from China and were unwilling to ‘go
begging’ to Russia like the Koreans and the Vietnamese, because ‘there would be political
conditions imposed upon us without fail’ (Four Year Plan – Chandler et al, 1988, p. 47).
One example of these forms of performance targets for the area E (East and South of
Phnom Penh towards the Vietnamese border) presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Plan for Rice Production and Capital Seeking (from KR Four Year Plan)
Type of Input- 1977 1978 1979 1980 4 year total Percentage
Output
Production from 1st 240,000T 360,000T 462,000T 570,000T 1,632,000T
quality fields: 6T
Production form 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 4,200,000T
ordinary fields: 3T
Total Production 1,290,000T 1,410,000T 1,510,000T 1,620,000T 5,832,000T
For consumption 530,000T 530,000T 530,000T 530,000T 2,120,000T
by 1.7M people
For seed and social 250,000T 300,000T 350,000T 400,000T 1,300,000T
welfare
Remaining paddy 510,000T 580,000T 630,000T 690,000T 2,400,000T
In rice 306,000T 348,000T 378,000T 414,000T 1,440,000T
In money: $200 per $61M $69M $75M $82M $287M
one ton of rice
For reconstruction $50M $54M $60M $82M $230M 80%
of zone
19
Gift to the State $11M $15M $15M $16M $57M 20%
(Chandler et al, 1988, p. 62)
On the whole the performance targets represented unrealistic growth expectations and the
consequence of reporting underperformance would not be pleasant for the individuals
involved. However, it does clearly demonstrate that there were accounting practices under
the Khmer Rouge regime. Under the Khmer Rouge the processes of imperialism and
colonialism were intentionally disrupted and this included eliminating individuals who had
accounting skills (as recommended by Fanon-1963). However, the absence of the very
same accounting skills made the management of a centrally controlled soviet model of
government as envisioned by Lenin (1917) extremely difficult. It is therefore possible to
argue that one factor in the failure of the Khmer Rouge was their lack of accounting skills.
Given the use of performance measurement and control within the Four Year Plan and the
statement by Khieu Samphan it is probable that more detailed forms of accounting would
have emerged which would have been influenced by the Chinese socialist model. In fact
this is similar to what happened following the fall of the Khmer Rouge and the introduction
of socialist Vietnamese rule.
5.5 Practicing soviet accounting (1979-1991)
In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia and captured Phnom Penh in January 1979.
Despite historically difficult relationships between Cambodia and Vietnam they were
generally welcomed as liberators with the Khmer Rouge retreating west to areas near the
Thai border. Cambodia was renamed the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and a socialist
centrally planned economy was established. In this setting there was evidence that
accounting was embraced as a tool of the central control as described by Lenin (1917). The
role and status of accountants reflected the State service role found in most soviet examples
while Soviet-style accounting practice were used as part of the central control of the
country and the regulation of the rural production (Interview, No. 4). One of the few
accountants who survived this period described the communist era accounting like this:
After the Khmer Rouge regime, we needed help from our neighbours to re-build the
country. We imported most of the things from Vietnam including the accounting
expertise…Vietnam was a socialist country so our accounting practice, standards
and profession was used according to Vietnam’s socialist accounting system with
all the properties, balance sheet and income statement accounts… all the business
transactions of the State were recorded according to government accounting system
…it was the only way to maintain the accounting system in the country – the
20
socialist way of recording accounts. If there were any losses occurred in State
enterprise, the government pays for the loss (Interview, No.9).
Between 1980 and 1993 there was the progressive development of State accounting
practices. In 1980 the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) was established. The
MEF produced new rules and regulations for governmental accounting, finance, budgeting
and taxation such as regulation No. 41-80 KB SS where all government ministries were
required to use a common chart of accounts and disclose supporting evidence relating to
their financial position.
The basis to the chart of account approach was the conventional double-entry
approach and this was labelled at the time as the system of ‘matching targeted
revenues against targeted expenditures’ (Interview, No.3).

A full public sector accounting system in all State departments and units was established in
1982 (Council of Ministers decision No 169 SRC, 7 October 1982) underpinned by the
introduction of a signed payment voucher system6 for State departments (No 014 KHV-
SRC, 26 February 1982) and the requirement that government enterprises7 use cash
accounting (No 1412-82, 20 September 1982). More detailed accounting and reporting
systems were also developed for State owned manufacturing and commercial units as these
areas were expected to cover their own costs from their revenues.
In 1983 the accounting developments were accelerated with the establishment of the
Department of Accounting within the MEF and they developed three new uniform codes of
account for (1) commercial enterprises, (2) for industrial enterprises and (3) for
construction enterprises, which were unified in 1978 (Council of Ministers decision No 49
SSR, 11 April 1987).
While there was a highly developed form of centrally planned accounting (as suggested by
Lenin - 1917) under the soviet model, no scope was given to for accountants to break from
state control. One might speculate that accountants were kept under clear state control
precisely because they were so important to a centrally planned economy.
5.6 Moving towards Globalisation (1991 onwards)
6
Voucher is a document prepared by the finance department to justify the payment and to keep a record of
evidence. The payment details, monitory values, dates and supporting evidence such as payment receipts
are attached with the voucher for future references and for auditing purposes. The voucher is signed by two
authorised persons before the payment is made.
7
These are government owned firms or agencies. Their major function was to carry out government activities
such as various public services including transportation and warehousing etc.
21
The era of the close economy came throughout the late 1980s and the early 1990s with a
progressive liberalisation of Cambodia which reflected the broader Perestroika within the
Soviet communist bloc. It became clear that Cambodia was no longer closed to outside
influence and outside capital as one interviewee suggested
The period from 1989 is the beginning of a socialist market economy. The
Cambodian economy begins to open, but not integrate, to the world. Among other
things, foreign companies are still allowed to use foreign accounting systems, but
have to comply with Cambodian regulations with respect of accounting and auditing
requirements. In this aspect, the accounting profession would play a prominent role.
The foreign companies are also allowed to use foreign language and currency unit
provided that these companies have been registered with the MEF (Interview, No. 2).
By 1991 the Paris peace agreement was signed and following the 1993 general election, the
new government revised the constitution to enable democracy and a multi-party system and
the degree of integration began to change. During their first term the government shifted
away from isolation and promoted greater global integration and the development of the
institutions and regulations for a globalised economy such as the accounting profession.
During the period [of] the planned economy, we did not have right institutions to
start promote accounting and auditing functions in Cambodia. As you know the
Soviet Union model had failed to meet the country’s economic conditions during
last few decades. The requirements on the reform of fundamental tools and
approaches on economic and finance management, including accounting and
statistical tools, were urgent as one of premises for economic reform towards a
market economy. In this respect the accounting profession should be able to
comply with these developments in the country (Interview, No.5).
From 1993 the role of the MEF changed from just regulating the State to also producing a
legal and financial framework for the private sector and, with the support of the French
government, through the French National Accounting Council (Conseil National de la
Comptabilité), started preparing a new public and private sector accounting system. In
November 1993 the MEF prescribed a chart of accounts (Prakas No. 012 PK-RKSHV, 07
November 1993) for public and private sector and a plan for accounting rules and
guidelines for all financial statements (Narayan and Godden, 2000) which clearly reflected
the French influence in its structure, classifications and accounting approaches (Chan,
2007). The accounting system was followed by a number of other pieces of economic
reform legislation, changes to public sector financial management and the establishment of
an Auditor-General and the National Audit Authority of Cambodia (21st January 2000).
During this period the French influence was significant with the French Government
assisting in upgrading the Cambodian Accounting standards (Interview, No.5) and
sponsoring a study of the public and private sector accounting practices submitted to the
22
MEF in March 2000. In 2002 the French recommendations were incorporated into further
refinement of the accounting rules and the creation of a French style professional
accounting entity – the ‘National Accounting Council’ (clearly modelled after the French
Conseil National de la Comptabilité), a consultative body to review and give its opinion on
all accounting regulations and laws and to develop the conceptual framework and
accounting standards.
However, it was perceived that the accounting laws and practices were weak and
insufficient to meet the increasing demands of the growing market economy market
economy. Interviewees suggested that the “Accounting information produced is not
reliable enough to assess the financial performance of enterprises” (Interview, No. 3) and
that “the fraudulence and falsification of accounting figures and documents which have
caused huge losses and damage to the economy have not been seriously punished”
(Interview, No. 3). The need for more robust accounting standards were not longer being
driven by the French but were driven by the ‘requirements of the market economy’
From 1998 to date, the MEF has really participated in the completion of
accounting and auditing framework of Cambodia, starting from the projects to
draft an Accounting Law, and to prepare for the issuance of accounting and
auditing standards in accordance with the requirements of market economy
(The Ministry of Economy and Finances, 2003 p. 12, accessed 2007).
What is fascinating is with a first step towards openness the seed of the French involvement
and the early and significant influence they exercise over the emergent accounting rules and
professional bodies. This defiantly fits notions of imperialism and post-colonial cultural
imperialism exercised through the structure of the accounting rules. There is little doubt
that the establishment of these accounting rules would have provided an initial advantage to
French companies who would be advantaged by the familiar rules (Freeman, 2002; Bray,
2005). However, this advantage proved highly transient as the focus shifted very quickly
away from the French recommendations for accounting and professionalization and
towards the ‘requirements of market economy’. In effect although there was a reversion to
post-colonial imperialism, this has been quickly subsumed by the broader focus on global
trade and capitalism (Caramanis, 2002; Annisette, 2000, Arnold and Sikka, 2001)
5.7 Accounting, globalisation and trade
The transition out of a centrally controlled into a free market economy has been dramatic
for Cambodia. Large markets, a liberal economy, low wages and the strategic location, are
among the major attractions for international business in Cambodia According to
23
(UNCTAD, 2003). In 1999 Cambodia became a member of ASEAN which is a grouping
about 10 countries in South East Asia with a total population about 550 million and a GDP
of about $600 billion. Cambodia has shifted from a closed economy to part of globalised
markets and capital.
The change in markets and capital has also resulted in a change to the accounting
profession. In March 2003 the Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and
Auditors (KICPAA) was established by the MEF. Although the KICPAA was technically
independent it was governed and regulated by the MEF and KICPAA’s day to day
functions were still directly influenced by the State (Narayan and Godden, 2000; Chan et
al, 2007). The KICPAA’s charter states that:
The KICPAA is a professional body for independent auditing practitioners in

Cambodia, and is established on the basis of voluntary, equal and mutual benefits.
The objectives of the KICPAA are to gather and unite individuals who are all
working in the auditing profession; to maintain, develop and improve capacity of
CPAs, quality of accounting and auditing services, adherence to professional code
of ethics to actively contribute to the financial and economic management of
businesses and the country; to expand the cooperation; to integrate with professional
accounting and auditing bodies of other countries in the region and the world (MEF,
2003, Article 2).
KICPAA offers individual and firm membership members and recognises both local and
international qualifications. The KIPAA appears to have been modelled on French
professional bodies such as the Ordre des Experts Comptables (OEC) and the legacies of
the Soviet-style central-planning era as the structure and role of the KICPAA reflects the
model of the accounting profession as a State controlled regulator rather than independent
professional body (Narayan and Godden, 2000). While KICPAA has the formal
responsibility for determining and maintaining adequate professional standards and
licensing members, interviewees suggested that the MEF are the real ‘power behind the
throne’ as all KICPAA staff members are government officials and the KICPAA is depends
on government funding.
A 2007 World Bank analysis of accounting and auditing in Cambodia was critical of the
competency of accountants and auditors and the capability of the KICPAA. The World
Bank, (2007, p. 9) claimed that the KICPAA was unable to “move the profession forward
or project its image as an effective regulator of the public accountancy profession in
Cambodia”. World Bank, (2007) indicated that the majority of KICPAA members hold
foreign accountancy qualifications, most with the British Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA) and some other professional associations from Australia, the UK and
24
New Zealand and were granted membership in KICPAA without further examination or
requirements (World Bank, 2007, p. 9). However, despite listing over 100 qualified
members of the KICPAA only 58 members were active (and only 10 of the 15 locally
registered firms were active). Yet while most of the KICPAA members were foreigners
(with ACCA qualifications) only Cambodian citizens would be allowed to provide audit
services from 2010. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2010) analysis of the
accounting profession in Cambodia was equally scathing noting that in 2005 there were
only 10 locally certified accounts working in Cambodia. Although there were attempts to
boost accounting qualifications and training World Bank (2007) concluded that Cambodia’s
accounting profession is dominated (in terms of membership numbers) by members of the
UK ACCA, many of the entities in the corporate sector do not have access to professionally
qualified accountants and the accountants who did work in Cambodia were not well trained
or supported
While not directly addressing Cambodia, authors such as Davie (2000) and Annisette
(2000) have argued that entities such as ACCA were a force of colonial cultural
imperialism and the case of Cambodia suggests that imperialism may have now morphed
into globalisation. ACCA emphasise their international standing and contribution to off-
shore recruitment as a global growth strategy and have succeeded in ‘branding’
professional accounting qualifications internationally (Briston and Kedslie 1997)
advertising itself as the largest and fastest growing international accountancy body, with
over 300,000 students and members in 160 countries. The ACCA has also an extensive
network of over 70 staffed offices and other centres around the world8. In that sense a state
owned and run accounting profession seems as susceptible to take-over as the bodies in ex-
British colonies such as Trinidad and Tobago (Annisette, 1999, 2000, 2010), Kenya (Sian,
2010), Malaysia (Susela, 1999, 2010) and Sri Lanka (Yapa, 2006, 2010) and the aggressive
and expansionist practice of the ACCA is consistent with the processes documented by
Sikka and colleagues (Mitchell and Sikka, 2004; Sikka et al, 2007).
At a Cambodian level there was a direct connection as the ACCA sponsored visits by
senior State (MEF) officials who were responsible for the KICPAA to the ACCA
headquarters in the UK. The influence of major accounting firms in Cambodia has become
more evident. By 2002 there were seven accounting firms in the Cambodia including three
of the Big Four largest international accounting firms in the world have offices in Phnom
8
(http://www.accaglobal.com/services/). Accessed on 10.11.11.
25
Penh: Ernst & Young International, KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (The Cambodia
Daily, 5-6 Sep, 2002). While there has been some attempt to regulate the international
firms by restricting the power to offer statutory audit or accounting work under the
Cambodian accounting law9 although it is questionable under global trade agreements how
long these restrictions can be sustained.
On one hand the KICPAA has not expanded particularly and the colonial links with France,
while being restored on independence, appear to be less relevant in the face of globalised
accounting standards and profession. In essence Lenin’s (1916) thesis of the preferencing
of colonial capital is disappearing in the face of more globalised forms of capital.
However, the notion that accounting (and accountants) were necessary to help Cambodian
(or any other less developed country) to engage in the globalised free market appears
unquestioned and unquestionable.
Therefore, the accounting profession in Cambodia, can be characterized as competition

between international institutions (such as the ACCA) seeking to exert influence within a
former French colony and a local organization (KICPAA) concerned with maintaining local
regulation and protection. While colonialist influences drove institutional structures, the
current forces are associated with the global accounting firms and professional associations.
A colonialist and imperialist argument is being fast superseded by the impacts of the
internationalisation of the world economy and professional globalization. The irony is
when Cambodia is at last ready to grow their own accounting profession they are being
knocked out of the race by global competition. However, from the perspective of
imperialism – that may have been exactly the objective.
6. CONCLUSION
Within developing countries many accounting associations were established under colonial
rule with accounting being seen as an implicit and imbedded element of the imperial and
post-colonial machinery left by colonial powers such as Britain to their own advantage. The
role of accounting within revolutionary settings is more ambiguous with authors such as
Lenin (1917) suggesting that accounting is a critical element of the soviet system while
other revolutionary thinkers condemn accounting (well – accountants more specifically) as
9
They need to set up joint ventures within local firms or incorporate local firms as member firms in order to
apply for a provisional operation licenses to provide audit/accounting services in Cambodia. Cambodian
accountants may form an accounting partnership with limited liability, although any new firms require
approval from the MEF before they can provide statutory services.
26
middle class counter-revolutionaries which had to be eliminated in order for revolution to
succeed. Cambodia is fascinating precisely because of the profoundly disturbing nature of
the scorched earth experience which occurred under Pol Pol and the Khmer Rouge. On one
hand a gentle progression towards post-colonial imperialism could be expected as the
French gave independence to this colony. However, the path followed was anything but a
simple progression.
The first notable feature of the Cambodian case was the relative absence of accounting
within the colonial period. There seemed to be little incentive to establish any formal
accounting identity under the French colonial rule and it could be conjectured that the
‘State and legal regulation’ approach towards accountancy found in French reduced the
visible presence of the accountant. Nevertheless this form of colonial imperialism had little
need for accounting or accountants. Accountancy was absent. There also seemed to be
little evidence of accounting practice with the Japanese presence during World War II or
the short independence following the war. Perhaps most surprising is that despite the
genocide of the educated and literate (which would have included any accountants
available) it is plausible to argue that the starvation that so weakened the Khmer Rouge that
it fell to the invading Vietnamese was caused by the inability to effectively account for their
most critical resource (in terms of both food and funds) – the rice harvests. In that sense
Fanon (1963) might have been right in suggesting that accountants would resist revolution,
but Lenin (1917) was even more correct in his argument that accounting was necessary for
the stable operation of the socialist State. This was further reinforced under Vietnamese
control when widespread soviet practices associated with centralised accounting system
were installed.
Under progressive moves towards and open economy and globalisation more ‘private
sector’ accounting practices were legislated and a State controlled Cambodian professional
body was instituted. This creation of post soviet accounting rules were influenced by the
French approach towards accounting regulation based on a common State regulated chart of
accounts. When there was the desire to develop a more fully-formed accounting system and
establish an accounting association it was to the French government and the French
accounting regulators that the Cambodian authorities turned. While this illustrated the
dominant influence of the State (at this point in time) and a residual influence of the French
colonial powers, it was just a passing phase as international standards have been
27
implemented and international bodies such as the ACCA have grown in influence. There is
evidence for the growing dominance of the ACCA and other external professional bodies in
this setting and the relative absence of local investment in the accounting profession despite
the clear regulatory efforts to preference Cambodian accountants in the area of auditing. In
a sense the growth of a globalised accounting profession is not particularly surprising, but
that it occurs despite the radical and fundamental disjunctures and transformations that had
been experienced by Cambodia illustrates the strength and broad applicability of global
firms and professional accountancy associations. From that perspective notions of
European imperialism seem to be less relevant in the light of more distinctly global
initiative and Lenin (1917) was right – accounting IS a requirement for the stable operation
of a socialist state.
28
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Appendix 1 : Background information of respondents
Respondents Back ground and experience of respondents

Held several responsible government positions including member of the KICPAA Council,
1 Assistant secretary to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and chairperson of University
education committee. Retired after 35 years of service.
Held responsible positions in the State sector and member of the ACCA local council, finally
2 worked as an assistant Auditor General of Cambodia. Has nearly 38 years of State service.
Mr. Khieu Samphan - Head of State during the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia
3
Graduate from a French University – work in the MEF and advisor to the Ministry of
4 Education in Cambodia. Worked in senior capacity in the State sector for nearly 30 years.
Graduate and a legal expert in the MEF - held responsible positions such as Chairman of a
5 State Owned Enterprise in Cambodia. 31 years of service in the legal and consultancy fields in
Cambodia. Held a parliamentary position for 4 years.
6 President of a major commercial bank in Cambodia. Held a several responsible positions in

various ministries including the MEF – currently working for Non-governmental sector in
Cambodia. Held some accounting and auditing consultancy assignment sin Cambodia,
Vietnam and in China nearly ten years.
Educationalist – worked in leading tertiary institutions and worked as a principal lecturer in a
7 few educational institutions in Cambodia. A graduate from a French University. Altogether he
has a service about 26 years in his field. He was a chairman of committees on taxation library
and publications, examinations and company law at MEF. Now he is working as a senior
manager in an audit and tax authority in a foreign country.
8 He was a chairman of committees on taxation library and publications, examinations, company

law at MEF. Now he is working as a senior manager in an audit and tax authority (private
company) in Cambodia.
9 Graduate from University of Singapore, Tax practitioner in Cambodia. He worked in auditing

and taxation sector for nearly 20 years in Vietnam and in Cambodia. Now he runs his own
business.
Senior Staff member of the Cambodian National Bank – has about 15 years experience in the
10 Bank. He was involved in various senior positions in the bank.
Professor from a leading university in Cambodia. Has about 30 years experience in tertiary
11 education and consultancy service area. Advisor to the Cambodian government for higher
education sector.
35
Table 1- Cambodian Political, Legal, and Economic Systems
Years Legal system Political system Political Power Economic

system
Before 1953 French-based Under French Held by the French Colonial
civil code and protectorate
judiciary
1953-1970 French-based Constitutional Held by Prince Market and
(The Kingdom civil code and Monarchy Norodom then
of Cambodia) judiciary Sihanouk as prime nationalized
minister
1970-1975 French-based Republic Held by Lon Nol Market, war
(The Khmer civil code and US influence economy
Republic) judiciary
1975-1979 Legal system All previous Khmer Rouge Agrarian,

(Democratic destroyed systems centrally
Kampuchea) abolished, planned
extreme Maoist
agro-communism
1979-1989 Vietnamese Communist party, Cambodian Central
(The people's communist central committee, People's Party planning
Republic of model and local (Vietnamese
Kampuchea) committees backed)
1989-1993 Greater Communist party, Cambodian Central
(The State of economic rights central committee, People's Party planning
Cambodia) and local (Vietnamese
committees backed)
1993-present French-based Constitutional Shared between Transition to
(The Kingdom civil code Monarchy FUNCINPEC* and market
of Cambodia) combined with the Cambodian economy
common law in People's Party
certain sectors
* National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia.
Source: ADB, 2001. Key Governance Issues in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam, [Online],
Available at: <URL: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Key_Governance_Issues/>, Accessed date: August
19, 2003.
Table 2: Plan for Rice Production and Capital Seeking (from KR Four Year Plan)
Type of Input- 1977 1978 1979 1980 4 year total Percentage
Output
Production from 1st 240,000T 360,000T 462,000T 570,000T 1,632,000T
quality fields: 6T
Production form 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 1,050,000T 4,200,000T
ordinary fields: 3T
Total Production 1,290,000T 1,410,000T 1,510,000T 1,620,000T 5,832,000T
For consumption 530,000T 530,000T 530,000T 530,000T 2,120,000T
by 1.7M people
For seed and social 250,000T 300,000T 350,000T 400,000T 1,300,000T
welfare
Remaining paddy 510,000T 580,000T 630,000T 690,000T 2,400,000T

In rice 306,000T 348,000T 378,000T 414,000T 1,440,000T
In money: $200 per $61M $69M $75M $82M $287M
one ton of rice
For reconstruction $50M $54M $60M $82M $230M 80%
of zone
Gift to the State $11M $15M $15M $16M $57M 20%
(Chandler et al, 1988, p. 62)

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Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

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with colonialism, domination and globalisation.

While we acknowledge a rich intellectual tradition which has focused on professional

Annisette (1999) presents the establishment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of

they delivered privilege and benefits to the middle class post-independence.

Therefore the emergence of accounting bodies are not necessarily a response to

3. Understanding an accounting field

The significance of internal actors is well recognised in the sociology of profession

It is the multiple and multi-facetted transition in Cambodia from agriculture, through

Table 1- Cambodian Political, Legal, and Economic Systems

Years Legal system Political system Political Power Economic

5. The Presence and Absence of Accountancy in Cambodia

5.1 Pre-Colonial and Colonial Accounting

5.2 Post - Colonial Independence (1953 to 1970)

5.3 Post-Coup Vietnam War Period - US Influence (1970-1975)

5.4 Accounting and the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979)

What is accounting? According to the theory I have learned, if there is no money

Interestingly …there was no accounting during my regime, I was in charge of the

5.5 Practicing soviet accounting (1979-1991)

revenues against targeted expenditures’ (Interview, No.3).

5.6 Moving towards Globalisation (1991 onwards)

5.7 Accounting, globalisation and trade

The KICPAA is a professional body for independent auditing practitioners in

Therefore, the accounting profession in Cambodia, can be characterized as competition

No.1412-82 – 20/10/82, Kingdom of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

and Society, Vol 26, No.6 pp 475-499.

Accounting Conference (APIRA), Auckland –New Zealand, 8-10 July.

apartheid: The role of professional closure in the experiences of black chartered

Appendix 1 : Background information of respondents

Respondents Back ground and experience of respondents

6 President of a major commercial bank in Cambodia. Held a several responsible positions in

8 He was a chairman of committees on taxation library and publications, examinations, company

9 Graduate from University of Singapore, Tax practitioner in Cambodia. He worked in auditing

Years Legal system Political system Political Power Economic

1975-1979 Legal system All previous Khmer Rouge Agrarian,

Remaining paddy 510,000T 580,000T 630,000T 690,000T 2,400,000T

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