Abstract The article discusses professional accountancy in South America. In Argentina, at the present time, the profession is regulated by an act passed in March, 1945, by which those possessing a university diploma are entered in an Accountants' Register. Non-graduates also can be entered in this register, if they submitted an application in 1945 and were active as independent accountants before December 31, 1944. An accountant can serve in a public capacity only if his name was mentioned in the register. In Brazil, to follow the accounting profession, it is necessary to obtain a diploma from a recognized college, subject to inspection by the Ministry of Education. This diploma must then be registered at the Superintendence of Commercial Teaching and at the appropriate regional council of accountancy. In Chile, accountancy is in its initial stages as a profession. British Chartered Accountants established offices in Valparaiso as early as 1912, and branches have been set up in Santiago, Concepción, and other cities.

Abstract The first treatise on double-entry bookkeeping published in Dutch appeared in 1543. With the early foundation of bookkeeping in the Netherlands, it is surprising that the profession developed so slowly and so late. It was not until 1880 that the first public accountant's office was established there, but by 1905 there were four societies of accountants in existence. The oldest professional body is Het Nederlandsch Instituut dan Accountants, founded in 1895, with a membership originally divided into first and second class. The four professional bodies were amalgamated in 1934 under the title, Het Nederlandsch Instituut van Accountants, its headquarters is at Herengracht 491, Amsterdam. The Netherlands Institute was established on English lines, its founders having been especially influenced by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In the early years, the accountant was regarded merely as an expert and confidential adviser to his client. In the course of time, attention was directed to the accountant's third-party relations.