Methods and Early Evidence of
Double-Entry BookkeepingThe leap from a famous fifteenth-century treatise on
double-entry bookkeeping to the modern world sees the extension of "accounting" to include economics and the environment.
In pace with the emergence of Western-style manufacturing and commercial operations, Western accounting (featuring
double-entry bookkeeping) was introduced and expanded in China from the early twentieth century [Lin, 1992; Chen, 1998; Auyeung et al.
The lecturer--who was very engaging--happened to mention the word Venice in association with the origin of
double-entry bookkeeping and some illustrious person called Luca Pacioli who had published a book on the subject in Venice.
KIMURA, Wasaburo (1975) "
Double-Entry Bookkeeping and Business Bookkeeping." Osamu KOJIMA (ed.) Historical Studies of Double Entry.
Not only does bookkeeping constitute a "branch" of accounting, but our system of
double-entry bookkeeping undergirds modern financial accounting.
In the 12th century, Greif tells us, the Genoese "ceased to use the ancient custom of entering contracts by a handshake and developed an extensive legal system for registering and enforcing contracts." This extensive legal system also included bills of lading and, in time,
double-entry bookkeeping. Greif argues that these Genoese legal innovations made the rising city-state integral to commerce.
Fourteenth century Italian merchants are credited with developing
double-entry bookkeeping, the system of recording each business transaction twice that's still used today.
"Accounting," Richardson argues, "in some sense, is just accounting:
double-entry bookkeeping. What has changed are the transactions." However, he notes, "In an introductory class, you can't delve into complex derivatives because the students haven't been exposed to them yet.
"We just came out with a new self-study course that teaches
double-entry bookkeeping in around two hours (one sitting)," Sahlein said.
Venkatrathnam guide readers through the concepts and processes that every bookkeeper needs to know, including: single-vs
double-entry bookkeeping, cash- vs accrual-basis accounting, posting financial transactions, keeping a "paper trail" of source documents, preparing a trial balance, creating financial statements, establishing internal controls, preparing for the annual audit, and closing out the fiscal year.
Iraq, which is more or less equivalent to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that was ancient Mesopotamia, is viewed by scholars as the cradle of Western civilization: site of the biblical Garden of Eden and seedbed of the cultures that gave the Western world its first cities, writing systems, libraries, legal codes, coins, calendars,
double-entry bookkeeping and farming techniques, among many other things.