Accounting in a European minority language: accounting in Welsh

Abstract

This paper investigates the preparation of accounts and annual reports in a European minority language, the Welsh language. Changes in legislation including the statutory order enabling companies to file accounts in Welsh in 1992 and the Welsh Language Act in 1993 giving Welsh equal status to English has resulted in an increase in the number of companies preparing accounts in Welsh. This paper investigates the numbers and types of companies preparing accounts in Welsh as well as the motivation for doing so. The survey of companies in North and West Wales, the stronghold of the Welsh language, found that the groups most likely to prepare accounts in Welsh were public bodies who were now legally required to do so, companies serving the agricultural community, and companies operating in areas where the Welsh language was strongest. The paper also looks at some of the practical problems, including vocabulary, and concludes that there is a need for more research into accounting in other European minority languages.