The history of accounting goes back almost six thousand years. Without it, the economic activity of a person, enterprise, state, world community is impossible. Modern accounting is based on international accounting standards.
First financial documents
Accounting appeared in Mesopotamia in 3600 BC. There is documentary evidence of this fact. Archaeologists have found and deciphered clay tablets with records of temple officials.
They counted the grain, oil, and meat produced on the farm. How many products were given to employees. The remainder is in the pantries.
Simple bookkeeping
With the emergence of private property, simple accounting developed. He was needed for the rational management of a personal economy. The owner constantly recounted and checked the safety of his property.
The accounting system of the Roman Empire, which stood out from the others, did not allow calculating profits or taking an inventory of material assets. But in its depths modern accounting terminology was born.
During the Middle Ages
In the second millennium AD, accounting experienced a rapid development. It was divided into two areas: simple and office accounting.
Simple accounting kept records of property assets. As a result, income and expense were determined.
The cameral office was engaged in counting cash receipts and cash expenditures. Profit and loss calculations were made in advance. And then they were registered for a certain period of time.
Double entry
The Italian accounting system replaced the Roman one, which no longer satisfied the growing banking industry.
Special magazines have appeared. One is for registering business and financial transactions. Another journal is for invoices. The double entry form laid the foundation for modern accounting.
In 1494, the first book on accounting, the treatise On Accounts and Records, was published in Venice. Its author is the famous Italian mathematician Pacioli. The treatise described a way to double record trade operations.
International Accountancy Day is celebrated on November 10. This is the day of the publication of Pacioli's book.
During this period, the name of the profession of a person who was engaged in keeping accounting books appeared in Russia. The word "accountant" comes from the German der Buchhalter (bibliologist).
Accounting as a science
The development of economic activity was accompanied by the development of accounting. It can be clearly traced in the works of scientists Schweiker, Thom, Savary.
In 1889, accounting was officially recognized as a science that numerically characterizes the activities and state of the enterprise.
And the Frenchman Dumarchet invented the coat of arms of accountants. It still depicts the sun, scales and Bernoulli's curve today.
International standard
Representatives of the American school, Irving Fisher and D. Scott, greatly influenced the theory of accounting.
Scott developed the provisions that formed the basis of the international accounting standard (GAAP) in the seventies of the XX century.
The main goal of the international standard is to develop common concepts and common terminology. And also the same interpretation of financial statements.
