1880-1914, l'échec de l'unification des bilans. Le rendez-vous manqué de la normalisation

Despite a long tradition of state intervention, at the beginning of this century France was one of the European countries with the most liberal accounting rules. Nevertheless, the spectacular increase in the number of limited liability companies occurring during this period produced financial scandals which led to periodical attempts at accounting reforms. There were even proposals for balance sheet standardisation. As a result of the success of liberal ideas, of lobbying and of lack of organization among accountants, no reform were achieved. The codification of accounting rules subsequently became the task of the tax administration, following the establishment of an income-tax in 1914. In consequence, tax considerations weigh heavly on freneh accountings.