History of accounting

The history of accounting or account ancy can be t raced t o ancient civilizat ions.[1][2][3]

A Japanese man writing in a ledger with the help of

a soroban (abacus). Meiji period, 1914

The early development of account ing dat es t o ancient Mesopot amia, and is closely relat ed t o
development s in writ ing, count ing and money[1][4][5] and early audit ing syst ems by t he ancient
Egypt ians and Babylonians.[2] By t he t ime of t he Roman Empire, t he government had access t o
det ailed financial informat ion.[6]

In India, Chanakya wrot e a manuscript similar t o a financial management book, during t he period of
t he Mauryan Empire. His book Arthashastra cont ains few det ailed aspect s of maint aining books of
account s for a sovereign st at e.

The It alian Luca Pacioli, recognized as The Father of accounting and bookkeeping was t he first
person t o publish a work on double-ent ry bookkeeping, and int roduced t he field in It aly.[7][8]

The modern profession of t he chart ered account ant originat ed in Scot land in t he ninet eent h
cent ury. Account ant s oft en belonged t o t he same associat ions as solicit ors, who oft en offered
account ing services t o t heir client s. Early modern account ing had similarit ies t o t oday's forensic
account ing. Account ing began t o t ransit ion int o an organized profession in t he ninet eent h cent ury,[9]
wit h local professional bodies in England merging t o form t he Inst it ut e of Chart ered Account ant s in
England and Wales in 1880.[10]
Ancient history

Globular envelope (known as

a Bulla) with a cluster of
accountancy tokens, Uruk
period, 4000-3100 B.C.E, from
Susa. Louvre Museum

Early development of accounting

Account ing records dat ing back more t han 7,000 years have been found in Mesopot amia,[11] and
document s from ancient Mesopot amia show list s of expendit ures, and goods received and t raded.[1]
The development of account ing, along wit h t hat of money and numbers, may be relat ed t o t he
t axat ion and t rading act ivit ies of t emples:

"another part of the explanation as to why accounting employs the

numerical metaphor is [...] that money, numbers and accounting are
interrelated and, perhaps, inseparable in their origins: all emerged in the
context of controlling goods, stocks and transactions in the temple
economy of Mesopotamia."[1]

The early development of account ing was closely relat ed t o development s in writ ing, count ing, and
money. In part icular, t here is evidence t hat a key st ep in t he development of count ing—t he t ransit ion
from concret e t o abst ract count ing—was relat ed t o t he early development of account ing and
money and t ook place in Mesopot amia[1]
Ot her early account ing records were also found in t he ruins of ancient Babylon, Assyria and Sumer,
which dat e back more t han 7,000 years. The people of t hat t ime relied on primit ive account ing
met hods t o record t he growt h of crops and herds. Because t here was a nat ural season t o farming
and herding, it was easy t o count and det ermine if a surplus had been gained aft er t he crops had
been harvest ed or t he young animals weaned.[11]

Expansion of the role of the accountant

Bet ween t he 4t h millennium BC and t he 3rd millennium BC, t he ruling leaders and priest s in ancient
Iran had people oversee financial mat t ers. In Godin Tepe (‫ )گدین تپه‬and Tepe Yahya (‫)تپه يحيی‬,
cylindrical t okens t hat were used for bookkeeping on clay script s were found in buildings t hat had
large rooms for st orage of crops. In Godin Tepe's findings, t he script s only cont ained t ables wit h
figures, while in Tepe Yahya's findings, t he script s also cont ained graphical represent at ions.[4] The
invent ion of a form of bookkeeping using clay t okens represent ed a huge cognit ive leap for
mankind.[5]

During t he 2nd millennium BC,[12] t he expansion of commerce and business expanded t he role of t he
account ant . The Phoenicians invent ed a phonet ic alphabet "probably for bookkeeping purposes",
based on t he Egypt ian hierat ic script , and t here is evidence t hat an individual in ancient Egypt held
t he t it le "compt roller of t he scribes". There is also evidence for an early form of account ing in t he
Old Test ament ; for example t he Book of Exodus describes Moses engaging It hamar t o account for
t he mat erials t hat had been cont ribut ed t owards t he building of t he t abernacle.[2]

By about t he 4t h cent ury BC, t he ancient Egypt ians and Babylonians had audit ing syst ems for
checking movement in and out of st orehouses, including oral "audit report s", result ing in t he t erm
"audit or" (from Lat in: audire, to hear). The import ance of t axat ion had creat ed a need for t he
recording of payment s, and t he Roset t a St one also includes a descript ion of a t ax revolt .[2]
Roman Empire

Part of the Res Gestae Divi

Augusti from the
Monumentum Ancyranum
(Temple of Augustus and
Rome) at Ancyra, built
between 25 BCE - 20 BCE.

By t he reign of Emperor August us (27 BC - AD 14), t he Roman government had access t o det ailed
financial informat ion, as evidenced by t he Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Lat in: "The Deeds of t he Divine
August us"). The inscript ion was an account t o t he Roman people of August us' st ewardship, and
list ed and quant ified his public expendit ure, including dist ribut ions t o t he people, grant s of land or
money t o army vet erans, subsidies t o t he aerarium (t reasury), building of t emples, religious offerings,
and expendit ures on t heat rical shows and gladiat orial games, covering a period of about fort y years.
The scope of t he account ing informat ion at t he emperor's disposal suggest s t hat it s purpose
encompassed planning and decision-making.[6]

The Roman hist orians Suet onius and Cassius Dio record t hat in 23 BC, August us prepared a
rationarium (account ) which list ed public revenues, and t he amount s of cash in t he aerarium
(t reasury), in t he provincial fisci (t ax officials), and in t he hands of t he publicani (public cont ract ors);
and t hat it included t he names of t he freedmen and slaves from whom a det ailed account could be
obt ained. The closeness of t his informat ion t o t he execut ive aut horit y of t he emperor is at t est ed
by Tacit us' st at ement t hat it was writ t en out by August us himself.[13]

Records of cash, commodit ies, and t ransact ions were kept scrupulously by milit ary personnel of t he
Roman army. An account of small cash sums received over a few days at t he fort of Vindolanda circa
AD 110 shows t hat t he fort could comput e revenues in cash on a daily basis, perhaps from sales of
surplus supplies or goods manufact ured in t he camp, it ems dispensed t o slaves such as cervesa
(beer) and clavi caligares (nails for boot s), as well as commodit ies bought by individual soldiers. The
basic needs of t he fort were met by a mixt ure of direct product ion, purchase and requisit ion; in one
let t er, a request for money t o buy 5,000 modii (measures) of braces (a cereal used in brewing)
shows t hat t he fort bought provisions for a considerable number of people.[14]

The Heroninos Archive is t he name given t o a huge collect ion of papyrus document s, most ly let t ers,
but also including a fair number of account s, which come from Roman Egypt in t he 3rd cent ury AD.
The bulk of t he document s relat e t o t he running of a large, privat e est at e.[15] It is named aft er
Heroninos because he was phrontistes (Koine Greek: manager) of t he est at e, which had a complex
and st andardised syst em of account ing which was followed by all it s local farm managers.[16] Each
administ rat or on each sub-division of t he est at e drew up his own lit t le account s, for t he day-t o-day
running of t he est at e, payment of t he workforce, product ion of crops, t he sale of produce, t he use
of animals, and general expendit ure on t he st aff. This informat ion was t hen summarized on pieces of
papyrus scroll int o one big yearly account for each part icular sub-division of t he est at e. Ent ries were
arranged by sect or, wit h cash expenses and gains ext rapolat ed from all t he different sect ors.
Account s of t his kind gave t he owner t he opport unit y t o t ake bet t er economic decisions because
t he informat ion was purposefully select ed and arranged.[17]

Medieval and Renaissance periods

Double-entry bookkeeping

In eight h cent ury Persia, scholars were confront ed wit h t he Qur’an's requirement t hat Muslims keep
records of t heir indebt edness as a part of t heir obligat ion t o account t o God on all mat t ers of t heir
life. This became part icularly difficult when it came t o inherit ance, which demanded det ailed
account ing for t he est at e aft er deat h of an individual. The asset s remaining aft er t he payment of
funeral expenses and debt s were allocat ed t o every member of t he family in fixed shares, and
included wives, children, fat hers and mot hers. This required ext ensive use of rat ios, mult iplicat ion
and division t hat depended on t he mat hemat ics of Hindu-Arabic numerals.

The inherit ance mat hemat ics were solved by a syst em developed by t he medieval Islamic
mat hemat ician Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (known in Europe as Algorit hmi from which we
derive "algorit hm"). Al-Khwarizmi's opus “The Compendious Book on Calculat ion by Complet ion and
Balancing” est ablished t he mat hemat ics of algebra, wit h t he last chapt er devot ed t o t he double-
ent ry bookkeeping required for solut ion t o t he Islamic inherit ance allocat ions.[18] Al Khwarizmi's work
was widely circulat ed, at a t ime t hat t here was subst ant ial act ive discourse and t rade bet ween
Arabic, Jewish and European scholars. It was t aught in t he learning cent ers of Al-Andalus in Iberia,
and from t he t ent h cent ury forward, slowly found it s way int o European banking, which began
slipping Hindo-Arabic numerals int o account ing books, despit e t heir prohibit ion as sinful by t he
medieval church. Bankers in Cairo, for example, used a double-ent ry bookkeeping syst em which
predat ed t he known usage of such a form in It aly, and whose records remain from t he 11t h cent ury
AD, found amongst t he Cairo Geniza.[19] Fibonacci included double-ent ry and Hindo-Arabic numerals in
his Liber Abaci which was widely read in It aly and Europe.

Al-Khwarizmı's book int roduced al-jabr meaning "rest orat ion” (which European t ranslat ed as "algebra")
t o it s inherit ance account ing, leading t o t hree fundament al account ing - algebreic concept s:

1. Debit s = Credit s: algebraic manipulat ions on t he left -hand and right -hand sides of an equal sign
had t o "balance" or t hey were in error. This is t he algebraic equivalent of double-ent ries
"bookkeeping equat ion" for error cont rol.

2. Real account s: These included asset s for t racking wealt h, weighed against liabilit ies from t he
claims of ot hers against t hat wealt h, and t he difference which is t he owner's net wealt h, or
owner's equit y.This was al-Khwarizmi's "basic account ing equat ion".

3. Nominal account s: These t racked act ivit y t hat affect ed wealt h, and t he "rest orat ion" int o t he
real account s reflect ed account ing's closing process and t he calculat ion of t he owner's
increment in wealt h—net income.

Algebra balances and rest ores formulas on t he left and right of an equal sign. Double-ent ry
bookkeeping similarly balances and rest ores debit and credit t ot als around an equal sign. Account ing
is t he balancing and rest orat ion of algebra applied t o wealt h account ing.[20]

In 756, t he Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur sent scholars, merchant s and mercenaries t o support t he Tang
dynast y's Dukes of Li t o t hwart t he An Shi Rebellion. The Abbasids and Tangs est ablished an
alliance, where t he Abbasids were known as t he Black-robed Arabs. The Tang dynast y's ext ensive
conquest s and polyglot court required new mat hemat ics t o manage a complex bureaucrat ic syst em
of t it hes, corvee labor and t axes. Abbasid scholars implement ed t heir algebraic double-ent ry
bookkeeping int o operat ions of many of t he Tang minist ries. The Tang dynast y expanded t heir
marit ime presence across t he Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea, and up t he Euphrat es
River.[21] On land t hey conquered much of what is t oday's China.

The Tangs invent ed paper currency, wit h root s in merchant receipt s of deposit as merchant s and
wholesalers. The Tang's money cert ificat es, colloquially called “flying cash” because of it s t endency
t o blow away, demanded much more ext ensive account ing for t ransact ions. A fiat currency only
drives value from it s hist ory of t ransact ions, st art ing wit h government issue, unlike gold and
specie. Paper money was much more port able t han heavy met allic specie, and t he Tang assured it s
universal usage under t hreat of penalt ies and possibly execut ion for using anyt hing else.

The Tangs were great innovat ors in t he widespread use of paper for account ing books, and
t ransact ion document s. They developed t he 8t h-cent ury Chinese print ing t echniques involving
chiseling an ent ire page of t ext int o a wood block backwards, applying ink, and print ing pages by
invent ing early movable t ype, including charact ers chiseled in wood and t he creat ion of ceramic print
blocks. Tang science, cult ure, manners and clot hing were widely imit at ed across Asia. Japan's
t radit ional dress, as well as cust oms like sit t ing on t he floor for meals, were borrowed from t he
Tangs. Imperial minist ries adopt ed t he Tang's double-ent ry bookkeeping for administ rat ion of t axes
and expendit ures. The Goryeo kingdom (t he modern name "Korea" derives from Goryeo) donned t he
imperial yellow clot hing of t he Tangs, used t he Three Depart ment s and Six Minist ries imperial
syst em of t he Tang dynast y and had it s own "microt ribut ary syst em" t hat included t he Jurchen
t ribes of nort h China. The Tang's double-ent ry bookkeeping was essent ial t o managing t he complex
bureaucracies surrounding Goryeo t ribut e and t axat ion.[22]

Lat er dispersion of knowledge of double-ent ry can be at t ribut ed t o t he rise of Genghis Khan and
lat er his grandson Kublai Khan who were deeply influenced by t he bureaucracy of t he Tang dynast y.
The account ant s were t he first t o ent er a cit y conquered by Mongols, t allying up t he t ot al wealt h of
t he cit y, from which t he Mongols t ook 10%, t o be allocat ed bet ween t he t roops. Cit ies were
conquered, t hen encouraged t o remain going-concerns. Double ent ry bookkeeping played an
import ant role in assuring t he Mongols were fully informed about t axes and expendit ure.[22]

Rat ios, division and mult iplicat ion were difficult wit h Roman numerals, and were achieved t hrough a
met hod called "doubling."[22] Similarly, addit ion and subt ract ion involved an error-prone rearranging of
Roman numerals. None of t his lent it self t o double-ent ry bookkeeping, an as a result , medieval
Europe lagged East ern and Cent ral Asia in adopt ing double-ent ry bookkeeping. Hindu-Arabic numerals
were known in Europe, but t hose who used t hem were considered in league wit h t he devil. The
prohibit ion of Hindu-Arabic mat hemat ics was incorporat ed int o st at ut es proscribing t he use of
anyt hing but Roman numerals. That such st at ut es were necessary is an indicat ion of t he
at t ract iveness t o merchant s of double-ent ry bookkeeping. Fibonacci’s book Liber Abaci
disseminat ed knowledge about double-ent ry and Hindu-Arabic numerals widely t o merchant s and
bankers, but because edit ions were hand copied, only a small group of people act ually had access t o
it s knowledge, primarily It alians. The earliest ext ant evidence of full double-ent ry bookkeeping
appears in t he Farolfi ledger of 1299–1300.[7] Giovanno Farolfi & Company, a firm of Florent ine
merchant s headquart ered in Nîmes, act ed as moneylenders t o t he Archbishop of Arles, t heir most
import ant cust omer.[23] The oldest discovered record of a complet e double-ent ry syst em is t he
Messari (It alian: Treasurer's) account s of t he cit y of Genoa in 1340. The Messari account s cont ain
debit s and credit s journalised in a bilat eral form and carry forward balances from t he preceding year,
and t herefore enjoy general recognit ion as a double-ent ry syst em.[24]

The Renaissance

The Vat ican, and t he It alian banking cent ers of Genoa, Florence and Venice grew wealt hy in t he 14t h
cent ury. Their operat ions recorded t ransact ions, made loans, issued receipt s and ot her modern
banking act ivit ies. Fibbonaci ’s Liber Abaci was widely read in It aly, and t he It alian Giovanni di Bicci de’
Medici int roduced double-ent ry bookkeeping for t he Medici bank in t he 14t h cent ury. By t he end of
t he 15t h cent ury, merchant vent ures in Venice used t his syst em widely. The Vat ican was an early
cust omer for German print ing t echnology, which t hey used t o churn out indulgences. Print ing
reached a wider audience wit h widely available reading glasses from Venet ian glassmakers (medieval
Europeans t ended t o be far-sight ed, which made reading difficult before spect acles). It aly became a
cent er for European print ing, part icularly wit h t he rise of Aldine Press edit ions of classics in Greek
and Lat in.[22]

It was in t his environment t hat a close friend of Leonardo da Vinci, t he it inerant t ut or, Luca Pacioli
published a book not in Greek or Lat in, but in a language t hat merchant s underst ood well -- It alian
vernacular. Pacioli received an abbaco educat ion, i.e., educat ion in t he vernacular rat her t han Lat in
and focused on t he knowledge required of merchant s. His pragmat ic orient at ion, widespread
promot ion by his friend da Vinci, and use of vernacular It alian assured t hat his 1494 publicat ion,
Summa de Arit hmet ica, Geomet ria, Proport ioni et Proport ionalit a (Everyt hing About Arit hmet ic,
Geomet ry and Proport ion) would become wildly popular. Pacioli's book explained t he Hindu-Arabic
numerals, new development s in mat hemat ics, and t he syst em of double-ent ry was popular wit h t he
increasingly influent ial merchant class. In cont rast t o scholarly abst ract s in Lat in, Pacioli's vernacular
t ext was accessible t o t he common man, and addressed t he needs of businessmen and
merchant s.[22] His book remained in print for nearly 400 years.

Luca's book popularized t he words “credre” means “t o ent rust ” and “debere” means “t o owe”—t he
origin of t he use of t he words "debit " and "credit " in account ing, but goes back t o t he days of single-
ent ry bookkeeping, which had as it s chief object ive keeping t rack of amount s owed by cust omers
(debt ors) and amount s owed t o credit ors. Debit in Lat in means "he owes" and credit in Lat in means
"he t rust s".[25]

Ragusan economist Benedet t o Cot rugli's 1458[26] t reat ise Della mercatura e del mercante perfetto
cont ained t he earliest known[27] manuscript of a double-ent ry bookkeeping syst em. But his
manuscript was not published unt il 1573.[28]
Luca Pacioli's Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalità (early It alian:
"Review of Arit hmet ic, Geomet ry, Rat io and Proport ion") was first print ed and published in Venice in
1494. It included a 27-page t reat ise on bookkeeping, "Particularis de Computis et Scripturis" (Lat in:
"Det ails of Calculat ion and Recording"). Pacioli wrot e primarily for, and sold mainly t o, merchant s who
used t he book as a reference t ext , as a source of pleasure from t he mat hemat ical puzzles it
cont ained, and t o aid t he educat ion of t heir sons. His work represent s t he first known print ed
t reat ise on bookkeeping; and it is widely believed t o be t he forerunner of modern bookkeeping
pract ice. In Summa de arithmetica, Pacioli int roduced symbols for plus and minus for t he first t ime in
a print ed book, symbols which became st andard not at ion in It alian Renaissance mat hemat ics.
Summa de arithmetica was also t he first known book print ed in It aly t o cont ain algebra.[29]

So alt hough Cot rugli was first , Pacioli was first t o publicat ion. Indeed, at t he t ime of writ ing his work
in 1494, Pacioli was aware of Cot rugli's effort s and credit ed Cort rugli wit h t he originat ion of t he
double ent ry book keeping syst em.[30][31]

So alt hough Luca Pacioli did not invent double-ent ry bookkeeping,[32] his 27-page t reat ise on
bookkeeping is a seminal work because of it s wide circulat ion and t he fact t hat it was print ed in t he
vernacular It alian language.[33]

Pacioli saw account ing as an ad-hoc ordering syst em devised by t he merchant . It s regular use
provides t he merchant wit h cont inued informat ion about his business, and allows him t o evaluat e
how t hings are going and t o act accordingly. Pacioli recommends t he Venet ian met hod of double-
ent ry bookkeeping above all ot hers. Three major books of account are at t he direct basis of t his
syst em:

1. t he memoriale (It alian: memorandum)

2. t he giornale (Journal)

3. t he quaderno (ledger)

The ledger classes as t he cent ral document and is accompanied by an alphabet ical index.[34]

Pacioli's t reat ise gave inst ruct ions on recording bart er t ransact ions and t ransact ions in a variet y of
currencies – bot h of which were far more common t han t oday. It also enabled merchant s t o audit
t heir own books and t o ensure t hat t he ent ries in t he account ing records made by t heir bookkeepers
complied wit h t he met hod he described. Wit hout such a syst em, all merchant s who did not maint ain
t heir own records were at great er risk of t heft by t heir employees and agent s: it is not by accident
t hat t he first and last it ems described in his t reat ise concern maint enance of an accurat e
invent ory.[35]
The Renaissance cultural context

Account ing as it developed in Renaissance Europe also had moral and religious connot at ions,
recalling t he judgment of souls and t he audit of sin.[36]

Financial and management accounting

The development of joint -st ock companies (especially from about 1600) built wider audiences for
account ing informat ion, as invest ors wit hout first -hand knowledge of t heir operat ions relied on
account s t o provide t he requisit e informat ion.[37] This development result ed in a split of account ing
syst ems for int ernal (i.e. management account ing) and ext ernal (i.e. financial account ing) purposes,
and subsequent ly also in account ing and disclosure regulat ions and a growing need for independent
at t est at ion of ext ernal account s by audit ors.[8]

Modern professional accounting

Modern Account ing is a product of cent uries of t hought , cust om, habit , act ion, and convent ion. Two
concept s have formed t he current st at e of t he account ancy profession. First ly, t he development of
t he double-ent ry book-keeping syst em in t he fourt eent h and fift eent h cent ury and secondly,
account ancy professionalizat ion which was creat ed in t he ninet eent h and t went iet h cent uries.[38]
The modern profession of t he chart ered account ant originat ed in Scot land in t he ninet eent h
cent ury. During t his t ime, account ant s oft en belonged t o t he same associat ions as solicit ors, and
t he lat t er solicit ors somet imes offered account ing services t o t heir client s. Early modern
account ing had similarit ies t o t oday's forensic account ing:[39]

"Like forensic account ant s t oday, account ant s t hen incorporat ed t he dut ies of expert financial
wit nesses int o t heir general services rendered. An 1824 circular announcing t he account ing
pract ice of one James McClelland of Glasgow promises he will make “st at ement s for laying
before arbit ers, court s or council.”[39]

In July 1854 t he Inst it ut e of Account ant s in Glasgow pet it ioned Queen Vict oria for a royal chart er.
The pet it ion, signed by 49 Glasgow account ant s, argued t hat t he profession of account ancy had
long exist ed in Scot land as a dist inct profession of great respect abilit y, and t hat alt hough t he
number of pract it ioners had been originally few, t he number had been rapidly increasing. The pet it ion
also point ed out t hat account ancy required a varied group of skills; as well as mat hemat ical skills for
calculat ion, t he account ant had t o have an acquaint ance wit h t he general principles of t he legal
syst em as t hey were frequent ly employed by t he court s t o give evidence on financial mat t ers. The
Edinburgh Societ y of account ant s adopt ed t he name "Chart ered Account ant " for members.[40]
By t he middle of t he 19t h cent ury, Brit ain's Indust rial Revolut ion was in full swing, and London was
t he financial cent re of t he world. Wit h t he growt h of t he limit ed liabilit y company and large scale
manufact uring and logist ics, demand surged for more t echnically proficient account ant s capable of
handling t he increasingly complex world of high speed global t ransact ions, able t o calculat e figures
like asset depreciat ion and invent ory valuat ion and cognizant of t he lat est changes in legislat ion
such as t he new Company law, t hen being int roduced. As companies proliferat ed, t he demand for
reliable account ancy shot up, and t he profession rapidly became an int egral part of t he business and
financial syst em.

Designations by nationality

To improve t heir st at us and combat crit icism of low st andards, local professional bodies in England
amalgamat ed t o form t he Inst it ut e of Chart ered Account ant s in England and Wales, est ablished by
royal chart er in 1880.[10] Init ially wit h just under 600 members, t he newly formed inst it ut e expanded
rapidly; it soon drew up st andards of conduct and examinat ions for admission and members were
aut horised t o use t he professional designat ions "FCA" (Fellow Chart ered Account ant ), for a firm
part ner and "ACA" (Associat e Chart ered Account ant ) for a qualified member of an account ant 's
st aff.

In t he Unit ed St at es t he American Inst it ut e of Cert ified Public Account ant s was est ablished in
1887.

In Canada, t he Canadian Inst it ut e of Chart ered Account ant s was incorporat ed in 1902,[41][42] t he
Cert ified General Account ant s Associat ion of Canada was founded in 1908 and t he Cert ified
Management Account ant s of Canada was incorporat ed in 1920. These t hree separat e Canadian
account ing bodies unified as t he Chart ered Professional Account ant s of Canada (CPA) in 2013.

See also

Kushim (individual)

References

1. Keit h, Robson. 1992. “Account ing Numbers as ‘inscript ion’: Act ion at a Dist ance and t he
Development of Account ing.” Accounting, Organizations and Society 17 (7): 685–708.

2. A History of ACCOUNTANCY (ht t p://www.nysscpa.org/t rust edprof/archive/1103/t p24.ht m) ,

New York St at e Societ y of CPAs, November 2003, ret rieved December 28, 2013
 3. The History of Accounting (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/20131228180919/ht t p://www.library.u
nisa.edu.au/about /exhibit ions/hist oryacc.aspx) , Universit y of Sout h Aust ralia, April 30, 2013,
archived from t he original (ht t p://www.library.unisa.edu.au/about /exhibit ions/hist oryacc.aspx)
on December 28, 2013, ret rieved December 28, 2013

4. ‫ تاریخ ایران از زمان باستان تا امروز‬.)1980( ‫ کیخسرو‬,‫( کشاورزی‬Translated from Russian by Grantovsky,
E.A.) (in Persian). pp. 39–40.

5. Oldroyd, David & Dobie, Alisdair: Themes in the history of bookkeeping, The Rout ledge
Companion t o Account ing Hist ory, London, July 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-41094-6, Chapt er 5, p.
96

6. Oldroyd, David: The role of accounting in public expenditure and monetary policy in the first
century AD Roman Empire, Account ing Hist orians Journal, Volume 22, Number 2, Birmingham,
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18. West land, J. Christ opher (2020). Audit Analytics : Data Science for the Accounting Profession.
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25. Thiéry, Michel: Did you say Debit?, Assumpt ion Universit y (Thailand), AU-GSB e-Journal, Vol. 2
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26. Carraro, Carlo; Favero, Giovanni (2016-12-21). Benedetto Cotrugli – The Book of the Art of Trade:
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Further reading

Brown, Richard, ed. A History of Accounting and Accountants (1905) online old classic (ht t ps://arc
hive.org/det ails/hist oryofaccount 0000brow/page/n7/mode/2up)

Chat field, Michael; Richard Vangermeersch (2014). The History of Accounting: An International
Encyclopedia (ht t ps://books.google.com/books?id=DmnMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA183) . Rout ledge.
ISBN 9781134675456.

Gleeson-Whit e, Jane. Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance (2013)

King, Thomas A. More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History of Accounting (2006) excerpt (ht t p
s://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Numbers-Game-Account ing/dp/0470008733/) .

Kirkham, Linda M., and Anne Loft . "The lady and t he account s: missing from account ing hist ory?"
Accounting Historians Journal 28.1 (2001): 67–90. online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcon
t ent .cgi?art icle=1584&cont ext =aah_ journal)

Neu, Dean. "“Discovering” indigenous peoples: account ing and t he machinery of empire."
Accounting Historians Journal 26.1 (1999): 53-82 online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcont
ent .cgi?art icle=1539&cont ext =aah_ journal) ; focus on Canada.

Oldroyd, David. "The role of account ing in public expendit ure and monet ary policy in t he first
cent ury AD Roman Empire." Accounting Historians Journal 22.2 (1995): 117–129. online (ht t ps://e
grove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcont ent .cgi?art icle=1452&cont ext =aah_ journal)

Soll, Jacob. The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations (2014), major
int erpret ive hist ory

Tsuji, At suo, and Paul Garner, eds. Studies in Accounting History: Tradition and Innovation for the
Twenty-First Century (1995)online (ht t ps://www.quest ia.com/library/3171729/st udies-in-account i
ng-hist ory-t radit ion-and-innovat ion)

Wanna, John, Christ ine Ryan, and Chew Ng, eds. From Accounting to Accountability: A Centenary
History of the Australian National Audit Office (2001) online (ht t ps://www.quest ia.com/library/102
032852/from-account ing-t o-account abilit y-a-cent enary-hist ory)

Zaid, Omar Abdullah. "Account ing syst ems and recording procedures in t he early Islamic st at e."
Accounting Historians Journal 31.2 (2004): 149–170. online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewc
ont ent .cgi?art icle=1654&cont ext =aah_ journal)
Great Britain
Glynn, John J. "The development of Brit ish railway account ing: 1800–1911." Accounting Historians
Journal 11.1 (1984): 103–118. online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcont ent .cgi?art icle=120
0&cont ext =aah_ journal)

Lee, Tom. "The changing form of t he corporat e annual report ." Accounting Historians Journal 21.1
(1994): 215–232. online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcont ent .cgi?art icle=1426&cont ext =
aah_ journal)

Loft , Anne. "Towards a crit ical underst anding of account ing: t he case of cost account ing in t he
UK, 1914–1925." Accounting, Organizations and Society (1986) 11#2 pp: 137–169.

United States
Allen, David Grayson, and Kat hleen McDermot t . Accounting for Success: A History of Price
Waterhouse in America 1890-1990 (Harvard Business School Press, 1993), 373 pp.

Carey, John L. The rise of the accounting profession: From technician to professional, 1896-1936
(Vol. 1. American Inst it ut e of Cert ified Public Account ant s, 1969)

Carey, John L. The rise of the accounting profession: To responsibility and authority, 1937-1969
(Vol. 2. American Inst it ut e of Cert ified Public Account ant s, 1969)

Hammond, Theresa A. A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants

since 1921 (2002) online (ht t ps://www.quest ia.com/library/101417523/a-whit e-collar-profession-
african-american-cert ified)

Mirant i, Paul J. Accountancy Comes of Age: The Development of an American Profession, 1886-
1940 (1990)

Pandit , Ganesh M., and C. Richard Baker. "Hist orical Development of t he St andard Audit Report in
t he US: Form, Scope, and Renewed At t ent ion t o Fraud Det ect ion." Accounting Historians Journal
48.1 (2021): 31–45.

West land, J Christ opher. (2020). Audit Analytics: Data Science for the Accounting Profession.
Cham: Springer Int ernat ional Publishing. ISBN 978-3-030-49091-1. OCLC 1224141523.

Zeff, St ephen A. "The evolut ion of t he concept ual framework for business ent erprises in t he
Unit ed St at es." Accounting Historians Journal 26.2 (1999): 89-131 online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.e
du/cgi/viewcont ent .cgi?art icle=1538&cont ext =aah_ journal) .

Zeff, St ephen A. "How t he US account ing profession got where it is t oday: Part II." Accounting
Horizons 17#4 (2003): 267–286. online (ht t p://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sazeff/PDF/Horizons,%20Par
 t %20II%20(print ).pdf)

Historiography
Carnegie, Garry D., and Christ opher J. Napier. "Popular account ing hist ory: Evidence from post -Enron
st ories." Accounting Historians Journal 40.2 (2013): 1–19. online (ht t ps://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/v
iewcont ent .cgi?art icle=1834&cont ext =aah_ journal)

Fleischman, Richard K., and Vaughan S. Radcliffe. "The roaring ninet ies: account ing hist ory comes
of age." Accounting Historians Journal (2005): 61–109. in JSTOR (ht t ps://www.jst or.org/st able/40
698310)

External links

Media relat ed t o Hist ory of account ancy at Wikimedia Commons