With the turn of the century came the founding of the Ford Motor Company as well as the wide-spread use of the telephone. Major cities saw growth, but soon they also saw the First World War. Specifically in the history of accounting, the ICAEW is organizing and the standards of the profession are being set.
Important dates in accounting and general history from this period:
- 1900 – Theodore Roosevelt is elected President of the United States, taking office the following January.
- 1901 – Accounting Systems for the Wholesale Grocery and Hardware Business is published, becoming one of the first education texts on bookkeeping.
- 1903 – The Wright brothers make their first successful flight of the powered airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1905 – The first issue of the Journal of Accountancy is published.
- 1906 – Charles F. Kettering invents the first electric cash register, powered by a small motor, for the National Cash Register Company.
- 1909 – Winston Churchill, as President of the Board of Trade, requests that women be allowed admission to the ICAEW and Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
- 1913 – The Federal Reserve banking system is created.
- 1915 – The first transcontinental US phone call took place. Fittingly, it was from Alexander Graham Bell in New York City to Thomas Watson in San Francisco
- 1916 – The American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA) changes its name to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), which at the time had 1,150 members.
- 1919 – The Beta Alpha Psi accounting honor society was formed at the University of Illinois to promote the CPA designation & certification on college campuses.
