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Management Accounting Practice And Price Calculation At Boulton And Watt's Soho Foundry: A Late 18th Century Example, Robert Williams

Accounting Historians Journal

When deciding upon the price to charge for one of their products, the managers of the Soho Foundry in Birmingham placed great reliance upon the data stored in their accounting system. By the last decade of the 18th century, the nature of the steam engine business was changing rapidly and reputation alone was insufficient to attract customers. Also, as more industrialists decided upon steam as a source of power and competition to supply their needs increased, more attention had to be paid to price structures. The increasing standardization of products meant that a price list could be determined. The partners …