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The manner of organizing accounting did not interest many accounting researchers. This paper tries to fill this gap. It highlights the transition from the bookkeeper to the accountant by exploring twelve nineteenth- and twentieth-century European novels. This is not only a semantic change but also an opposition of two conceptions that brings to the fore the characteristic of the modern accountant. On the one hand, there is the bookkeeper who is esteemed for his moral conduct and his great loyalty to his boss. On the other hand, there is the modern accountant who should be more and more efficient and whose status is declining. Between these two models, we explore the roots of the modern accountant during a transition period.