Early Development of Accounting

Early development of accounting[edit]
See also: History of mathematics, History of writing,

and History of money
Accounting records dating back more than 7,000 years
have been found in Mesopotamia,[11] and documents from
ancient Mesopotamia show lists of expenditures,
and goods received and traded.[1] The development of
accounting, along with that of money and numbers, may
be related to the taxation and trading activities of temples:
"another part of the explanation as to why accounting
employs the numerical metaphor is [...] that money,
numbers and accounting are interrelated and, perhaps,
inseparable in their origins: all emerged in the context of
controlling goods, stocks and transactions in the temple
economy of Mesopotamia."[1]
The early development of accounting was closely related
to developments in writing, counting, and money. In
particular, there is evidence that a key step in the
development of counting—the transition from concrete
to abstract counting—was related to the early
development of accounting and money and took place in
Mesopotamia[1]
Other early accounting records were also found in the
ruins of ancient Babylon, Assyria and Sumer, which date
back more than 7,000 years. The people of that time relied
on primitive accounting methods to record the growth of
crops and herds. Because there was a natural season to
farming and herding, it was easy to count and determine if
a surplus had been gained after the crops had been
harvested or the young animals weaned.[11]
Expansion of the role of the accountant[edit]
Between the 4th millennium BC and the 3rd millennium BC, the
ruling leaders and priests in ancient Iran had people oversee
financial matters. In Godin Tepe (‫ )گدین تپه‬and Tepe Yahya ( ‫تپه‬
‫)يحيی‬, cylindrical tokens that were used for bookkeeping on clay
scripts were found in buildings that had large rooms for storage of
crops. In Godin Tepe's findings, the scripts only contained tables
with figures, while in Tepe Yahya's findings, the scripts also
contained graphical representations.[4] The invention of a form
of bookkeeping using clay tokens represented a
huge cognitive leap for mankind.[5]
During the 2nd millennium BC,[12] the expansion of commerce and
business expanded the role of the accountant.
The Phoenicians invented a phonetic alphabet "probably for
bookkeeping purposes", based on the Egyptian hieratic script,
and there is evidence that an individual in ancient Egypt held the
title "comptroller of the scribes". There is also evidence for an
early form of accounting in the Old Testament; for example
the Book of Exodus describes Moses engaging Ithamar to
account for the materials that had been contributed towards the
building of the tabernacle.[2]
By about the 4th century BC, the ancient Egyptians and
Babylonians had auditing systems for checking movement in and
out of storehouses, including oral "audit reports", resulting in the
term "auditor" (from audire, to hear in Latin). The importance of
taxation had created a need for the recording of payments, and
the Rosetta Stone also includes a description of a tax revolt.[2]
Medieval and renaissance periods[edit]

Double-entry bookkeeping[edit]
Main articles: Luca Pacioli and Double-entry bookkeeping
system
In eighth century Persia, scholars were confronted with the
Qur’an's requirement that Muslims keep records of their
indebtedness as a part of their obligation to account to
God on all matters of their life. This became particularly
difficult when it came to inheritance, which demanded
detailed accounting for the estate after death of an
individual. The assets remaining after the payment of
funeral expenses and debts were allocated to every
member of the family in fixed shares, and included wives,
children, fathers and mothers. This required extensive use
of ratios, multiplication and division that depended on the
mathematics of Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Modern professional accounting[edit]

Modern Accounting is a product of
centuries of thought, custom, habit, action
and convention. Two concepts have formed
the current state of the accountancy
profession. Firstly, the development of the
double-entry book-keeping system in the
fourteenth and fifteenth century and
secondly, accountancy professionalization
which was created in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.[40] The modern
profession of the chartered accountant
originated in Scotland in the nineteenth
century. During this time, accountants often
belonged to the same associations
as solicitors, and the latter solicitors
sometimes offered accounting services to
their clients. Early modern accounting had
similarities to today's forensic accounting:[41]

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Early development of accounting[edit]

See also: History of mathematics, History of writing,

Medieval and renaissance periods[edit]

Modern professional accounting[edit]

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