The results of a longitudinal field study (1967‐89) of International Foods, a holding corporation for a group of companies in Pakistan is presented. It focuses on the influence of societal culture on the development of accounting and control practices in the organisation. Four specific issues are examined: How do organisations initiate accounting and control systems? How do such systems evolve? What roles do they play in a crisis? How does organisational action become disconnected from such systems? National culture, particularly as it shapes the world views of individuals, greatly enhances our understanding of the dynamics of accounting and control systems in organisations. The local nature of rationality is demonstrated by showing how contextualising practices allow us to make sense of them.