Accounting History Page
Why Study Accounting History?
The history of accounting is as old as civilization, key to important phases
of history, among the most important professions in economics and business,
and fascinating. Accountants participated in the development of cities,
trade, and the concepts of wealth and numbers. Accountants invented writing,
participated in the development of money and banking, invented double entry
bookkeeping that fueled the Italian Renaissance, saved many Industrial
Revolution inventors and entrepreneurs from bankruptcy, helped develop
the confidence in capital markets necessary for western capitalism, and
are central to the information revolution that is transforming the global
economy.
There are no household names among the accounting innovators; in fact,
virtually no names survive before the Italian Renaissance. It took archaeologists
to dig up the early history and scholars from many fields to demonstrate
the importance of accounting to so many aspects of economics and culture.
The role of accountants in the ancient world is coming into clearer focus
with new archaeological discoveries and innovative interpretations of the
artifacts. It is now evident that writing developed over at least 5,000
years--by accountants. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of
double entry bookeeping. It was central to the success of Italian merchants,
necessary to the birth of the Renaissance. Industrial Revolution firms
required accountants to provide the information necessary to avoid bankruptcy
and their role developed into a profession. Big business required capital
markets that depended on accurate and useful information. This was supplied
by the expanding accounting profession. Today, a global real-time integrated
information system is a near reality, suggesting new accounting paradigms.
Understanding history is needed to develop the linkages to predict this
future.
Book in Progress by Gary Giroux: A Short History of Accounting &
Business
This book is based on the premise that accounting has been significant
to civilization and fascinating! Accounting history is summarized
in eight chapters. An overview places accounting in perspective. In some
ways accounting hasn't changed much since Pacioli wrote the first "textbook"
in 1494. On the other hand, accounting has been a leader of the Information
Revolution. Many aspects of 21st century accounting will be unrecognizable
by today's professional leaders. Understanding the role of financial and
managerial needs today and in the future requires an understanding of the
past.
Luca Pacioli, Father of Accounting
Outline:
Overview--Accounting
in the 21st Century: Where Are We Now? How Did We Get Here?
1. From the Ancient World to the Enlightenment [Synopsis]
2. Britain and the Industrial Revolution [Synopsis]
3. American
Big Business and Cost Accounting
4. Financial Accounting and the Structure of Accounting
Regulation [Synopsis]
5. Auditing
6. Taxation
7. The Information Revolution
8. Twenty-first Century Accounting
References
The Great Accounting
Ride
Who Was the First
Accountant?
Other Essays
Annual Reports of the
Minehill & Schuylkill Railroad
The Big Eight
Gutenberg--Person
of the Millenium?
Financing
the Civil War: The Office of Internal Revenue and the Use of Revenue Stamps
A History
of Financial Analysis
Links to the Past
Accounting
Business
Museums
Companies
Individuals
General
American History
Other Sites
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