A Little History of Accounting
Before anything else...
Have you ever wonder the history of accounting?
Aren't you a little bit curious about it?
I did a short research about it and here's what I found from the web.
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To know more about this article, please visit: Investopedia
Have you ever wonder the history of accounting?
Aren't you a little bit curious about it?
I did a short research about it and here's what I found from the web.
The
name that looms largest in early accounting history is Luca Pacioli, who in
1494 first described the system of double-entry bookkeeping used by Venetian
merchants in his Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita.
Of course, businesses and governments had been recording business information
long before the Venetians. But it was Pacioli who was the first to describe the
system of debits and credits in journals and ledgers that is still the basis of
today's accounting systems.
The
industrial revolution spurred the need for more advanced cost accounting
systems, and the development of corporations created much larger classes of
external capital providers - shareowners and bondholders - who were not part of
the firm's management but had a vital interest in its results. The rising
public status of accountants helped to transform accounting into a profession,
first in the United Kingdom and then in the United States. In 1887, thirty-one
accountants joined together to create the American Association of Public
Accountants. The first standardized test for accountants was given a decade
later, and the first CPAs were licensed in 1896.
The Great Depression led to the creation of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1934. Henceforth all
publicly-traded companies had to file periodic reports with the Commission to
be certified by members of the accounting profession. The American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and its predecessors had responsibility
for setting accounting standards until 1973, when the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) was established. The industry thrived in the late 20th
century, as the large accounting firms expanded their services beyond the
traditional auditing function to many forms of consulting.
Pictures are courtesy of Pinterest.com
To know more about this article, please visit: Investopedia
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