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The purpose of this study is to sort out what was at stake in the fierce debates that raged after 1995 among Lebanese accountants about the conditions of membership to their new association.

It fits within the recent development of the sociology of professions. But, because of the specific nature of accountants expertise, it is also concerned with broader societal issues and socio‐political negotiation of interests, which underlie professional battles. Finally, to understand what is at stake today, past legacies, struggles and competitions had to be taken into account.

Before the creation of the LACPA in 1995, there was no unified accounting profession in Lebanon. Two bodies represented two types of work and practice (small offices doing mainly accountancy and fiscal consulting and service v. Anglo‐Saxon‐oriented and English‐speaking audit and accountancy practices). After 1995, although the new body welcomed OECF's advices, it could not adopt its principles. The absence of a high level degree in accountancy (comparable with DESCF), the diversity of academic trainings made it necessary for LACPA to have its own certification exam. But conflicting Anglo‐Saxon and French legacies will soon be absorbed in global change where economic governance is now submitted to the hegemony of financial markets.

The Lebanese case also reveals specific dimensions. The professional field is structured by overlapping conflicts of interest and power struggles which are simultaneously professional, social, cultural, and political.

It gives new insights into the accountancy profession in a non‐industrial country, and has interesting theoretical implications for the sociology of professions and for political economy.