The business needs that drove the emergence of double entry In defense of Pacioli, again… it is time to remove those dark glasses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Sangster
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Equation Approach ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Business Needs ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Accounting Graduates

Being able to understand how double entry works is a critically important skill of an accountant but, few accounting graduates either understand or perform double entry at the level desired. It has always been taught using rules, never by principles. This paper responds to and rejects criticisms published in this journal by Richard Macve. They concern a paper I published in 2018 presenting Luca Pacioli’s approach to teaching double entry using a principles-based approach. My response also uses grounded theory to reject Professor Macve’s theory concerning the development of double entry by generating an opposing new theory to explain what motivated its emergence. Furthermore, it highlights problems in the use of literature in accounting history; and uses theories of pedagogy and studies on teaching DEB to reject his insistence that it should be taught using a balance sheet equation approach. Several other comments/suggestions in his wide-ranging article are addressed.

scholarly journals The earlier synthetic balance sheet of Datini's Company in Avignon (1410): The combined accounting system

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Mikhail Kuter ◽  
Marina Gurskaya ◽  
Dmitriy Aleinikov
Keyword(s):  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
Detailed Explanation ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Financial Result ◽  
Operating Result

When studying accounting history, the use of archival sources is very important. Unfortunately, when scholars explore the genesis of accounting practice, archival sources are not often used. This paper does so, presenting a detailed explanation of features of the accounting system used by Francesco di Marco Datini’s’ company in Avignon 14091410. This accounting system used stocktaking and double entry in order to determination of the operating result and produce an analytical balance sheet. This study analyzed the Quaderno di Ragionamento (the book for drawing-up final accounts, including the financial result) with the aim of clarifying the features of this process. It also investigated the procedure used in preparing the synthetic balance sheet, a process not known previously elsewhere. This research was based on the archival material comprising of account books of the medieval merchant company of Datini, preserved in the State Archive in Prato.

suits of operations. The ordres were linked together either by double-entry or by the use of contra-accounts. The plan's double­ entry systems were as follows [CNOF, 1946]: Financial accounting Ordre 1 — Operating accounts (revenues and expenses) (accounting elements seen as causes) Ordre 2 — Balance sheet accounts (assets and liabilities) (effect of transactions on the company's position) Managerial accounting Ordre 3 — Cost accounts and sales accounts (transactions classified as to purpose) Ordre 4 — Imputation or contra-accounts Budgetary accounting Ordre 5 — Budgeted operations Ordre 6 — Budgeted liquidities Ordre 7 and 8 were left open, in case other accounting systems were developed in the future. Ordre 9 was devoted to commit­ ments and transitory accounts, such as purchases and sales in cash, and internal transfers. In financial statements, transitory ac­ counts were to be replaced by the ordre to which they were related (1 or 2), and commitments were to be listed at the end of the balance sheet. Each ordre was further divided into categories, each having its own specific meaning. For example, the categories found in ordre 1 were charges and revenues that are included in the gross profit margin, operating charges and revenues, investment-related charges and revenues, administrative charges, miscellaneous rev­ enues and financial charges. These categories were further grouped to provide the following summary accounts: the gross profit margin, results of operations, net revenue from investments, net administrative charges and financial charges. The classifica­ tion adopted in that ordre was based first on the economic func­ tion of the transactions and second on their nature. Another ex­ ample of the breakdown of an ordre into categories is provided by ordre 2. In the latter, assets were divided, according to their eco­ nomic function in the company and their degree of liquidity, into fixed assets, investments, short-term assets (inventories and short­ term investments), receivables and liquid assets (cash and cash equivalents). Ordre 3 and 4 were devoted to cost accounting, constituting a 287

2014 ◽  
pp. 343-343
Keyword(s):  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Profit Margin ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Managerial Accounting ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Fixed Assets ◽  
Net Revenue ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Double Entry

scholarly journals Enlisting accounting history in the contest between competing visions of accounting systems: Tommaso Zerbi and the origin of double-entry bookkeeping

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-579
Author(s):  
Valerio Antonelli ◽  
Michele Bigoni ◽  
Raffaele D’Alessio ◽  
Raffaele Marcello
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Systems ◽  
International Debate ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
Biographical Research ◽  
A Value ◽  
National Debate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Double Entry

Biographical research has attracted a significant level of interest from the accounting history community. Nevertheless, most of these studies are focused on documenting the life and work of renowned accounting scholars and practitioners. This study seeks to investigate the work of an author who is yet to attract the attention of the international community, Tommaso Zerbi, in close connection with the social and academic context in which this work was developed. The study emphasises the political and militant role that accounting history may play in academic communities by showing how accounting history research is not necessarily a value-free endeavour in the generation of new knowledge but can be enlisted in ensuring the success of a specific understanding of accounting systems in the context of academic struggles. Although mainly aiming at contributing to a national debate, the originality and value of Zerbi’s work ended up offering a significant contribution to the international debate on the origin of double-entry bookkeeping.

scholarly journals Social Insurance Accounting for a Notional Defined Contribution Scheme Combining Retirement and Long-Term Care Benefits.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Vidal-Meliá ◽  
Manuel Ventura-Marco ◽  
Juan Manuel Pérez-Salamero González
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Income Statement ◽  
Accounting Model ◽  
Notional Defined Contribution ◽  
Double Entry

This paper develops a social insurance accounting model for a notional defined contribution (NDC) scheme combining retirement and long-term care (LTC) contingencies. The procedure relies on standard double-entry bookkeeping and enables us to compile a “Swedish” type actuarial balance sheet (ABS) following a framework equivalent to an open group approach. This methodology is suitable for reporting the system’s solvency status and can show periodical changes in the system’s financial position by means of an income statement. The information underpinning the actuarial valuation is based on events and transactions that are verifiable at the valuation date, without considering expected future trends. The paper also contains an illustrative example to make it easier for policymakers to understand the main advantages and difficulties of our proposal. The policy conclusions stress the need to properly report social insurance benefits to enhance transparency and sustainability and to improve decision-making because it is in the public interest to do so.

scholarly journals A pioneering era of accounting history: The contributions of nineteenth-century Italian literature and its enduring dissemination around the globe

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Coronella ◽  
Valerio Antonelli ◽  
Alessandro Lombrano
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Italian Literature ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
International Accounting ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
The World ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Widespread Dissemination ◽  
Great Development

The aim of this article is to show the contributions to the accounting history literature made by Italian scholars working in the second half of the nineteenth century. These scholars comprised the world’s first community of academics, practitioners, office bearers and historians dealing in a systematic way with accounting’s past. They invented the narrative of accounting history and their historical re-enactments on relevant topics have been the basis for further historical research for many years. The last decades of the nineteenth century saw great development in historical studies of accounting, both in and outside of the academies. These studies were mainly of three types: (a) general histories, which examined the evolution of accounting practices from antiquity to the late nineteenth century; (b) investigations of the origins of double-entry and Pacioli; and (c) research on the evolution of accounting practices. Some of the most prominent books and papers published in this period have become widely known abroad. This article contributes to knowledge of early international accounting historians and can be linked to the field of accounting history today. It also demonstrates the widespread dissemination of this early Italian literature around the world, thereby forming the first example of international accounting history.

scholarly journals Certain aspects of methodology for accounting of intangible assets

2020 ◽  
pp. 219-233
Author(s):  
Valentyna Yasyshena
Keyword(s):  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Investment Activity ◽  
Balance Sheets ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Statement Of Cash Flows ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
The Impact

Introduction. In today’s competitive environment; there is an urgent need to find new approaches to managing an enterprise and its intangible assets in order to ensure the stability and development of domestic enterprises. For effective management of the enterprise; there is a need to conduct research aimed at improving the accounting methodology in accordance with the present requirements and to increase the formation of quality information and accounting support of the management system; etc. Objective. The study is aimed at studying such elements of the accounting method as double-entry; the balance sheet; reporting by disclosing their nature; determining the impact on accounting and the formation of reporting indicators in the IAs and goodwill in accordance with the requirements of the applicable law. Methods. Analysis and synthesis are used to identify the current state of the study of the elements of the accounting method. Scientific abstraction and historical methods have been used to outline the problems investigated by scientists arising in the theoretical and practical area of accounting for IAs. Groupings; tables; graphs are used to classify IAs and goodwill and to establish the interconnection of the accounting method elements; etc. Results. The problems of accounting and reporting of intangible assets through the prism of such elements of accounting method as accounts; double-entry; the balance sheet; reporting are revealed. It is emphasized that the balance sheet as an element of the method should be understood not only as a form of reporting but first and foremost as a model for ordering accounting objects and summarizing information on the facts about the economic activity. Not all intangible assets are reflected in the accounts and respectively in the balance sheets of domestic enterprises. This applies both to recognized intangible assets under PAS 8 and internally generated assets that do not meet the recognition criteria but which increase the value of the enterprise. It is stated that the internal goodwill should be reflected in the financial and management accounting of the enterprise because of its existence during all current activities of the company; and not only at the moment of its realization. Keeping current records of goodwill at the enterprise will reduce the gap between its market and book value to a minimum. The impossibility of simultaneous attribution of intangible assets transactions to two types of activities; which is disclosed in the financial statements; is proved. It is noted in the Statement of Cash Flows that the information on the sale of intangible assets should be recorded as an operating activity. The revision of the definition of «investment activity» was emphasized. Prospects. It is necessary to conduct research in the field of improving the methodology of domestic accounting in general; including intangible assets through the study of approaches to the accounting methodology.

THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM PRACTICED IN THE NEAR EAST DURING THE PERIOD 1220–1350 BASED ON THE BOOK RISALE-I FELEKIYYE

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cigdem Solas ◽  
Ismail Otar
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Governmental Accounting ◽  
Accounting Regulation ◽  
Control Rules ◽  
Monetary Unit ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
And Control

This study examines the governmental accounting practice in the Near East during the Il-Khan Dynasty period (1120–1350 A.D.). The survey is based on a handwritten manuscript, Risale-i Felekiyye. The accounting system introduced in the Risale-i Felekiyye is an elaborate governmental accounting system. The system was based on seven major books and a number of special journals. Documents used in the system formed the basis for recording events in the books. Furthermore, the system included concepts and rules for accounting and resulted in a final report. This accounting system emerged primarily from social and economic necessities caused by agricultural and fiscal reforms introduced by Ghazan Khan in 1295–1304. As a result of these reforms, budgeting practices and accounting regulation by the state were introduced to control state tax revenues and expenditures and to prevent fraud. These regulations introduced the use of a single monetary unit for recording, the use of an accounting fiscal period, duality, classification, substance, procedural rules which introduced a bilateral journal entry form, agency account rules, and correction and control rules. Also the rule of “revenues have to be equal to expenditures” presented itself as a balance sheet identity equation. These regulations, however, were not based on the accrual principle; instead, a cash basis of accounting was the recognized practice. The study concludes that the rudiments of double-entry accounting were practiced in the Near East and were developed independently from the accounting practices used in the West.

scholarly journals The Genesis of Double Entry Bookkeeping

2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Sangster
Keyword(s):  
13Th Century ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
External Impetus ◽  
New Form ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Do So

ABSTRACT The emergence of double entry bookkeeping marked the shift in bookkeeping from a mechanical task to a skilled craft, and represented the beginnings of the accounting profession. This study seeks to identify what caused this significant change in bookkeeping practice. I do so by adopting a new accounting history perspective to investigate the circumstances surrounding the emergence of double entry in early 13th century Italy. Contrary to previous findings, this paper concludes that the most likely form of enterprise where bookkeeping of this form emerged is a bank, most likely in Florence. Accountability of the local bankers in Florence to the Bankers Guild provided a unique external impetus to generate a new form of bookkeeping. This new bookkeeping format provided a clear and unambiguous picture of the accounts of all debtors and creditors, along with the means to check that the entries between them were complete and accurate.

and applied it without any official approval. The application of the plan allowed users to discover its weaknesses, and the experience they gained was valuable for the 1946 accounting normalization committee. The Plan o f the National Committee o f French Organization The National Committee of French Organization (CNOF) was an association of individuals from various professions who were interested in the organization of work in general. In 1928, Gabriel Faure, who in fact had been the first author to offer a modern decimal accounting chart in 1909, formed the CNOFs accounting section, whose major concern was normalizing the balance sheet. In July 1942, the CNOFs accounting section was invited by the CNOF council to study the plan prepared by the 1941 Account­ ing Plan Committee. Upon examination, the 1942 Plan was found to be too complex and technically difficult to apply to the large industrial companies for which it had been primarily conceived. Its classification was believed to be too empirical, without reflect­ ing any particular order or method. To make a positive contribu­ tion to the advancement of accounting, the accounting section then devoted its efforts to the rationalization of current French practice; by 1944, the section had published a rational plan for the organization of accounts. Eminent French accountants partici­ pated in the deliberations of the section: Gamier, Brunet, Anthonioz, Demonet, Fourastie and others, all of whom later helped in the drafting of the 1947 Plan, carrying over ideas that they had applied in the CNOF Plan. The objectives set by the authors of the rational plan were the classification, codification and articulation of accounts. No defini­ tions were provided in their plan, since the authors believed that there were enough excellent definitions in current practice. Nor was there any new method given for computing product costs. The plan provided a structure for making and registering the desired computations, but confined them to a particular set of accounts. Their correspondence with, and complete independence from, fi­ nancial accounting were ensured by the use of contra-accounts (imputation accounts). Any cost accounting method could be used in conjunction with the plan. The CNOFs Rational Plan. The proposed plan presented three double-entry systems, each containing two ordres. Each ordre clas­ sified events or accounting elements from a different perspective. The summation of all the accounts of any ordre provided the re-286

2014 ◽  
pp. 342-342
Keyword(s):  
Current Practice ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
New Method ◽  
National Committee ◽  
Industrial Companies ◽  
Gabriel Faure ◽  
Complete Independence ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Product Costs ◽  
Rational Plan

THE OLD DU PONT COMPANY'S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM LASTING A HUNDRED YEARS: AN OVERLOOKED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daijiro Fujimura
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Cost Data ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
System Cost ◽  
Vital Importance ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
Made In

ABSTRACT Accounting historians have not yet realized that there existed another complete accounting system before the formation of the modern accounting system of today which Johnson and Kaplan's Relevance Lost characterizes by the “integration” of cost and financial accounts supported by “inventory costing.” In that earlier accounting system, cost and profit calculations were made in a past particular ledger account or accounts, namely trading account(s), where accounting practices opposed to “inventory costing” and “integration” were used. The historical existence of that accounting system is overlooked by accounting historians. The example of the old Du Pont Company (DPC) this paper presents will bring it to light. Cost and profit calculation were made in four trading accounts in the double-entry ledger at the old DPC as it was purchased by the new DPC in 1902. One of its trading accounts dated back to 1804 when the old DPC started production of gunpowder. Early cost and profit calculations in that trading account were examined by the new DPC's staff in the early 1940s. They prepared schedules showing the cost data, sales revenues, and profit measurement recorded in the early trading account. These schedules give evidence that the old DPC recorded the costs incurred and used the cost data to compute profit for financial accounting purposes, but in different ways from today's “inventory costing” and “integration.” This old DPC's accounting system resulted from the application of the double-entry system to industrial accounting and was in use throughout the nineteenth century. By revealing the historical existence of that overlooked accounting system, this paper will show that accounting history may be described as evolution of the traditional accounting system made through double-entry bookkeeping in which the trading account was of vital importance and the transition from that traditional accounting system to the modern integrated accounting system supported by inventory costing.

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