Considered an enduring classic, ‘Budgetary Control’ sees McKinsey put years of practical accounting experience down on paper.

One of the pioneers of ‘management theory,’ his observations, methodology, and approach are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published.

´Budgetary Control´ is essential reading for anyone with an interest in what goes on behind the scenes of any successful business.



James Oscar McKinsey (1889 – 1937) was born in Missouri and went on to found the management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. The son of James Madison and Mary Elizabeth Logan McKinsey, he had a modest upbringing and was raised in a three-room house in the Ozarks.

After finishing high school, he attended Warrensburg Teachers College and earned a Bachelor of Pedagogy. Subsequently, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas to study Law, Bookkeeping at the St. Louis University, and Philosophy and Commerce at the University of Chicago.

In 1919, McKinsey wrote the first textbook about managerial accounting. After serving in the First World War, he lectured in accounting at Columbia University. During that year, he published his major work, ‘Budgetary Control.’

McKinsey & Co. was founded in 1926, and he worked there until 1935.