[5] Solomons recalled that the importance of this work lies "in the fact that his book-keeping system for textile manufacturing, which dates back to 1889, clearly foreshadowed standard costing.
"[1] Norton made a significant contribution to the development of cost accounting.
Chandra and Paperman (1976) specified, that "serious studies in cost accounting started only in the 1890s with the writings of Metcalfe, Garcke and Fells, Norton, Lewis, and later with Church, Nicholson and Clark.
The development of cost accounting in this period was undoubtedly slow.
Part of the delay in the establishment of cost accounting concepts may be due to the tendency of cost accountants to keep the methods they had developed within their own firms secret.