The first reference of accounting comes from Pacioli’s description of double-entry bookkeeping from the book “Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportions et Proportionalita” back in 1494. Here is a brief history of accounting based on that. In this guide, you’ll read about a brief history of accounting. Accounting took its origin dated back thousands of years. The earliest evidence of accounting comes from Mesopotamian civilizations. Major activities used in making an account is related to the earliest record-keeping of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. The first, foremost accounting methods involved animals, livestock, and crops. Let’s walk down the lane to learn more about the advent of oof accounting.
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Differences Between Debt & Credit in Accounting
Earliest Record of Accounting
The earliest accounting records were found over 7,000 years ago among the ruins of Ancient Mesopotamia. Bookkeepers were the earliest record keepers. Their advent into the society took place using the barter system for the trade-in in place of a cash and commerce economy. The bookkeepers made ledgers in the accounts with dates and descriptions of trades made.
Example of ledger entries:-
Monday, May 12: In exchange for three carrots, provided by me today, the laborer promised a bag of the floor.
During the Roman Empire
Roman History further defined accounting by listing quantities such as grants of land, temple buildings, religious offerings, etc. The terms of accounting became famous during this period from an account of Emperor Augustus’ financial dealings called ‘The Deeds of the Divine Augustus.’ The accounting quantities were used in the text for the distributions of people, grants of land, religious offerings, and theatrical shows & events. Other activities of recording by the Romans include public revenues, the stats treasury’s amount, etc.
Introduction of Accounting as a Profession
Luca Pacioli gave a 27 pages treatise on double-entry bookkeeping to introduce accounting as a profession. The introduction of accounting took place in 1494 in Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportions et Proportionality. These works included a 27-page treatise on bookkeeping tiled as Particulars de Computis et Scriptures. For the next 100 years, Pacioli’s book acted as a reference text & teaching tool on the subjects of bookkeeping & accounting. For the first time, people could see plus and minus signs appearing in a printed book.
During the Middle-Ages
At this time, the merchants kept a record of debit & credit during the accountants’ transactions. The prime form of money-changing during the middle-ages was bartering. Later that, people started keeping a record of multiple transactions using bookkeeping only.
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