The History of Accounting

The origin of accounting primarily consists of the establishment of human society and commerce. The idea of accounting is an old practice that has been dated since the Mesopotamia era. During this era, trade between tribes around Mesopotamia required records to be kept on stone and clay tablets. This took place at least 3600BC, where in those times, the ‘scribes’ who possessed a knowledge of writing also served as bookkeepers. Overall, accounting has made significant contributions over the past five and a half thousand years.

The first samples of what we called “writing” were believed to be actual records of transactions from more than 5,000 years ago. Many scholars considered that accounting systems were in use which had counterparts for our modern ledgers and receipts. Even the ancient Egyptians had a far more sophisticated system of accounting because of their advanced systems of distribution. Their system demanded quantities of different commodities to be stored in warehouses and disbursed (as required) over time. They often updated their goods and what had been consumed; One set of scribes would record the amounts that were brought into the warehouse while the other set of scribes would record any outward movements. A third set of scribes that functioned as auditors, would compare both sets of records and check with the quantities remaining in the warehouses. This system was made clear that the Pharaoh wasn’t being cheated in the transactions that were carried out. Rulers during that time also required accounting records to be collected for tax purposes.

Max Weber, a German economic thinker, believed that for capitalism to work, average people need to know how to do double-entry bookkeeping. This is n...

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...counting is revolutionized as many years go on. For professional accountants, the accounting profession has changed drastically. The entire bookkeeping and private accounting practices for people who do not practice professional accounting, has also changed because of the internet and the technological period. In general, the internet and computers allow more information to be inputted easily, which makes it faster and eases the job on professional accountants. In this generation, the internet and computers has helped in various ways. However, on the flip side, more privacy issues with technological advancements take place more now.

Sources

Soll, Jacob. "No Accounting Skills? No Moral Reckoning." The New York Times 27 Apr. 2014: 1-4. Web. 14 May 2014.