Accounting Historians Journal Volume 29 Article 2 Issue 1 June 2002 2002 Legitimizing power of financial statements in the Salvation Army in England, 1865-1892 Helen Irvine Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal Part of the Accounting Commons, and the Taxation Commons Recommended Citation Irvine, Helen (2002) "Legitimizing power of financial statements in the Salvation Army in England, 1865-1892," Accounting Historians Journal: Vol. 29 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal/vol29/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Archival Digital Accounting Collection at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Accounting Historians Journal by an authorized editor of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Irvine: Legitimizing power of financial statements in the Salvation Army in England, 1865-1892 Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 29, No. 1 June 2002 Helen Irvine UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG THE LEGITIMIZING POWER OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN THE SALVATION ARMY IN ENGLAND, 1865-1892 Abstract: Since its inception the Salvation Army has relied heavily on external funds to survive. There is evidence to suggest that at the time of its founding, in 19th century England, and in its early years, finan- cial statements played a powerful legitimizing role. This was crucial to an organization like The Salvation Army, newly formed and in desperate need of funds. This view is consistent with institutional theory, which emphasizes the importance of such legitimacy. How- ever, it challenges the notion, prevalent in academic literature on accounting in religious organizations, that there is a resistance to the use of accounting as a “secular” activity in an organization with a “sacred” mission.