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

Accounting History Time Line

A History of Financial Analysis

Links to the Past

              Accounting                                   Business                                                    Museums

Academy of Accounting Historians History of Money Hagley Museum
Accounting: A Virtual History Business History Henry Ford Museum
Pacioli Railroad History Museum of Am. Financial History
AICPA Computer History Ironbridge
FASB Internet History Lippincott Library
Accounting Hall of Fame Industrial Revolution National Archives
SEC Automobile History U.S. Musuems
RAW Textiles Archaeology Sites
AAA US Industrial Era, 1865-90 George Bush Library
Summa Project American Currency Baker Library - Harvard
Tax History NYSE History Presidential Sites
The British Museum

            Companies                                     Individuals                                                General

General Motors Thomas Edison History Channel
International Business Machines John D. Rockefeller Ancient Rome
Bristol-Myers-Squibb Economists British History
Sears Charles Dow U.S. History
Wells Fargo George Eastman PBS
General Mills Thomas Edison Brain Bank
Aetna Stephen Girard Virtual Library
Daimler Chrysler J. P. Morgan New Deal
Union Pacific Henry Ford American & British History
Kodak Eli Whitney History Net

American History



 
 
 
American History Sites American Memory (Library of Congress) American History
U.S. History History Net Civil War Index
American Heritage

Other Sites

State Archives Civil War Center Ohio State Business Library
History of the Dow Federal Reserve NASDAQ
National Archives Fed World Federal Government Index
National Park Service Archaeology  About Archaeology
Census Bureau Commerce Department State of the Nation (Economic Data)
The American Presidency Alexander Hamilton Ben Franklin
The History Channel Biography Federal Tax History

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