A Revisionist History Of Accounting: From The Origins Of Private Property To Venice In The Pacioli Era

Abstract

This treatise takes a fresh (and somewhat contrarian) look at the long history of accounting lead-ing up to the time of Luca Pacioli, who has long been considered the father of accounting. It first examines the centuries immediately preceding the time at which Pacioli recorded the Venetian technique of double-entry bookkeeping, in order to reveal why the model appeared in Italy during the fifteenth century. It also addresses the manner in which Paciolis work misdirected accounting historians efforts as they have sought the origins of accounting. Secondly, this treatise looks at stimuli explaining probable origins of accounting in earliest sedentary human cultures, in order to separate origins of accounting activity from the origins of bookkeeping. It is posited not only that the dawn of the institution of private property was the sole requirement for the existence of accounting activity, but that many of the factors (including writing and formalized mathematical systems) often believed to be necessary prerequisites for accountancy are most likely consequences of, not prerequisites to, the accounting process. This treatise concentrates attention on accounting for privately-owned entities rather than governmental accounting issues, partly because Pacioli himself concentrated on that aspect of accounting, but most importantly because everything said herein regarding fundamentals of accountancy is equally valid, with appropriate modifications, for governmental and nonprofit entities.