“Lively history. . . . Show[s] double entry’s role in the creation of the accounting profession, and even of capitalism itself.”—The New Yorker Filled with colorful characters and history, Double Entry takes us from the ancient origins of accounting in Mesopotamia to the frontiers of modern finance. At the heart of the story is double-entry bookkeeping: the first system that allowed merchants to actually measure the worth of their businesses. Luca Pacioli—monk, mathematician, alchemist, and friend of Leonardo da Vinci—incorporated Arabic mathematics to formulate a system that could work across all trades and nations. As Jane Gleeson-White reveals, double-entry accounting was nothing short of revolutionary: it fueled the Renaissance, enabled capitalism to flourish, and created the global economy. John Maynard Keynes would use it to calculate GDP, the measure of a nation’s wealth. Yet double-entry accounting has had its failures. With the costs of sudden corporate collapses such as Enron and Lehman Brothers, and its disregard of environmental and human costs, the time may have come to re-create it for the future.
Caitlin Rosenthal explores quantitative management practices on West Indian and Southern plantations, showing how planter-capitalists built sophisticated organizations and used complex accounting tools. By demonstrating that business innovation can be a byproduct of bondage Rosenthal further erodes the false boundary between capitalism and slavery.
Excerpt from 20th Century Bookkeeping and Accounting: A Treatise on Modern Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Business Customs, as Illustrated in the "Business Transactions" Which Accompany This Text The successful business man should know that a profit will result from the transactions in connection with his business before they are completed. To deter mine this he should have such information as will show the detailed operating cost, ' the profit from trading or other Operations, the net profit for each fiscal period, its source, and the increase or decrease over previous periods. A report concerning the failure or suspension of a business, accompanied with the statement that the creditors will not know what percentage of their claim may be collected until the experts have audited the books, indicates that the manage ment did not have all the facts available in connection with the business. Such a statement is so common in the newspaper announcement of failures that it sug gests a connection between accounting and success. If these conditions are to be improved, it is necessary to teach the correct principles of accounting and the best practice in applying them. The bookkeeping student of to-day is the bookkeeper or business man of to-morrow. If he has a knowledge of the correct principles, as bookkeeper, he will apply them, or, as manager, he will see that they are applied by the bookkeeper. The purpose of this text is to present the correct principles of bookkeeping and accounting, - principles advocated and practiced by modern bookkeepers and accountants. The information upon which it is based was obtained from standard authorities on accounting and from consultations with practicing book keepers and accountants. The text is prepared primarily for the student and not for the practicing book keeper or accountant. The presentation permits the beginner to master first the simple principles of accounting as applied in a small business. When he understands these, he can then appreciate the more complicated principles of accounting necessary in recording the transactions for a business of extensive operations. A study of the text would result in only a theoretical knowledge of the subject. Practice is necessary in applying the principles. This practice is provided in the sets that accompany the text. Each set has its outline of accounts based on the nature of the business and the number of transactions in connection therewith. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Excerpt from Modern Bookkeeping Accounting and Business Practice This book contains a carefully graded series of lessons in Bookkeeping, Accounting and Business Practice. The lessons are made so plain and are illustrated so fully that even a child can understand them. Any person of average intelligence, without any previous knowledge of Bookkeeping can become a fully competent double entry bookkeeper by mastering these lessons, provided he is proficient in Arithmetic and Penmanship or makes himself proficient in these subjects. In order that the student may easily and quickly acquire a practical working knowledge of Double Entry Bookkeeping, he is taught the principles in the following order: First. How to keep the Cash Book; - when to debit cash, when to credit cash, what explanations to use; how to balance cash daily, how to open and keep a bank account, and how to reconcile the bank balance. Second. When to debit and when to credit Personal accounts, Property accounts, Expense accounts, and the principle of Double Entry Bookkeeping. Third. How to keep the Journal; what to enter in the Journal and what in the Cash Book; how to Post; how to take a Trial Balance; the proper forms of Bills or Invoices and Statements; the importance of Collections and how to make them. Fourth. How to Open a New Set of Books and how to keep Stock accounts. Fifth. How to keep Private accounts; the Loss and Gain account; how to make up a Six Column Statement; and how to Close a Set of Books. Sixth. About Notes and Drafts; how to keep a Bills Receivable account and a Bills Payable account; how to keep the Bill Book; how to keep an Interest and Discount account. Seventh. About the indexing of the Ledger, the arrangement of accounts in the Ledger, the use of a General Ledger, a Sales Ledger and a Purchase Ledger. Eighth. About the use of Columnar Books; the use of a Sales Book, an Invoice Book, and a Petty Cash Book. Ninth. About the subdivision of the Merchandise account; - the Merchandise Purchases account; the Cash Discount on Purchases account; the Purchases Returned account; the Freight Inward account; the Merchandise Sales account; the Cash Discount on Sales account; the Sales Returned account and the Freight Outward account. Tenth. About Partnerships, Leases, and Fire Insurance. Eleventh. How to keep Controlling accounts; how to use the Bill Book as a book of original entry. Twelfth. How to keep books by Single Entry and how to change books from Single Entry to Double Entry. Thirteenth. How to do bookkeeping for a Commission business; about Shipments and Consignments; the use of the Receiving Book, the Consignment Ledger, the Customers Ledger, the General Ledger, and the Account Sales. Fourteenth. Corporation bookkeeping; Capital Stock account; Unissued Stock account; Subscribed Stock account; Subscribers account; Treasury Stock account; Undivided Profits account; Dividend account; Surplus account; the Minute Book; the Stock Ledger; the Dividend Book. Fifteenth. The Voucher System, with forms for the Voucher Book and the Voucher Register. Sixteenth. Profit and Loss Statements and Balance Sheets. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
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