PurposeWithin societies in the 21st century, individuals who are embedded in a controlled context that impedes their political actions deal with the tensions they are experiencing through attempts at resistance. Several studies that examine individual infrapolitics in organizations explain how the subtle mix of compliance and resistance are constructed at the level of individual identity in a complex mechanism that both questions the system and strengthens it. However, the interplay between managers' identities and management accounting tools in this process is a topic that deserves more investigation. The aim of this article is to understand how the subtle resistance of individuals constructs neoliberal reforms through management accounting (MA).Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a case study on three health and social organizations two years after major reforms were implemented in the health and social services sector in Québec, a province of Canada. These reforms were part of a new public management dynamic and involved the implementation of accounting tools, here referred to as New Public Management Accounting (NPMA) tools.FindingsThe authors’ findings show how managers participate in reforms, at the same time as attempt to stem the dehumanization they generate. Managers engage in subtly resisting, for themselves and for their field professional teams, the dehumanization and identity destruction that arises from the reforms. NPMA tools are central to this process, since managers question the reforms through NPMA tools and use them to resist creatively. However, their subtle resistance can lead to the strengthening of the neoliberal dynamic of the reform.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to both the literature of infrapolitics and MA by showing the role of NPMA tools in the construction of subtle resistance. Their article enriches the MA literature by characterizing the subtle forms of resistance and showing how managers engage in creative resistance by using the managerial potential flexibility of NPMA tools. The article also outlines how NPMA tools play a role in the dialectic process of resistance, since they aid managers in resisting reform-induced dehumanization but also support managers in reinventing and reinforcing what they are trying to fight. The authors’ study also illustrates the dialectic dynamic of resistance through NPMA in all its dimensions: discursive, material and symbolic. Finally, the authors contribute to management accounting literature by showing that NPMA tools are not only the objects of neoliberalization but also the support of backstage resistance to neoliberalization.

The purpose of this article is to study the potential impact of blockchain technology on accounting systems and businesses. Blockchain technology characteristics and operating modes have the potential to bring about innovations to the fields of accounting and auditing. After describing the function of blockchain technology, we examine potential accounting transformations and identify how the deployment of this technology might impact accountants and external auditors. To that end, we review the literature and take a prospective approach to the use of blockchain in accounting and auditing. Three major issues regarding the future of blockchain in accounting and auditing emerge: (i) the transformation of accounting techniques; (ii) main evolutions in accounting and auditing; and (iii) main evolutions in the work, skills, and education of auditors.

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La technologie Blockchain se diffuse très récemment à de nombreux domaines, au-delà même des crypto monnaies. Ses caractéristiques et son mode de fonctionnement sont potentiellement porteurs d’innovations dans le champ de la comptabilité et de l’audit. Après une présentation de la technologie Blockchain et de son mode de fonctionnement, nous questionnons les potentielles transformations comptables et identifions les potentiels impacts sur les métiers d’auditeurs externes et de comptables d’entreprise liés à la diffusion de cette technologie.

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