La professione del ragioniere e la crisi d’impresa. Gli albori della regolamentazione giuridica e della trattatistica tecnica

The aim of the paper is, first of all, to highlight the development of the regulation of the accounting profession, up to Law 15 July 1906 n. 327, which allowed accountants to be considered and chosen as qualified operators in the management of business crises. Consequently, the first technical contributions that they have prepared to disseminate their experiences and knowledge on the topic through articles, essays and specific monographs will be highlighted. As to legal evolution, the paper uses both primary sources (proposals and bills) and secondary sources. As to the technical treatises, we will carry out a survey of the works relating to the research topic published between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, and then illustrate their approaches and contents. The historical analysis of the management of business crises by accountants cannot ignore the evolution of the regulation of the accounting profession and the related establishment of the colleges of accountants in Italy, which represents a point of arrival of a very long struggle carried out by Italian accountants who after centuries of “hibernation” began to show signs of life and, above all, to move all together towards a common goal. The regulation of the activity of the professional accountant arrived in Italy only in 1906 with Law 15 July 1906 no. 327. From the moment in which Italian accountants began to take action in this direction, i.e. from the First Congress of Accountants, held in Rome in 1879, there was growing attention also towards publications of a “professional” nature, some of which can be traced back to companies in crisis. These are works of varying breadth and depth. In fact, they range from short articles that appeared in the main journals of the time, to professional essays of an applicative nature collected in special publications, up to monographs of both a theoretical and applicative nature. First of all, this work traces the evolution of the discipline up to the full recognition of professional protection for accountants, with particular reference to the effects that this has had on the possibility for them to manage company crises directly. Subsequently, it aims to highlighting the contribution provided by professionals who, through articles, essays and specific monographs, have disclosed their experiences and technical knowledge for the management of crisis situations which result in bankruptcies, compositions and company liquidations.