''The Accounting'' is a 1958 novel by Scottish writer Bruce Marshall, published as ''The Bank Audit'' in the UK.

Plot summary

The scene of this novel is Paris, where the branch of a well-known London bank is being audited. A normally routine affair, this year's

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

is different—the auditors have reason to believe that there may be fraud or

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

at play. The auditors in the story suspect this after hearing a few words at a Paris nightclub. The readers' attention is turned to each player, including the bank officials and overseers of the audit, but mostly to the unhappy junior and senior auditors, each a prisoner of his own private conflicts and aspirations, and each seeing the discovery and proving of the fraud as his chance for promotion. The novel makes the task of auditing understandable and delves into the hearts of those who make business their life's work.Marshall, B: ''The Accounting'' Houghton Mifflin 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accounting Novels by Bruce Marshall 1958 British novels Scottish novels Novels set in Paris Constable & Co. books