“Italian or Empirical Accounting…” by Ivan Akhmatov: Analysis and history of its creation

Abstract

This article represents the first biography of Ivan Akhmatov (1766–1829), an analysis of his works on Accounting and History. Until now all the Russians encyclopaedias stated that Akhmatov the professor and author of the accounting book, and Akhmatov the historian were different persons with the same surname. However, the results of archive research show that it was one person. This article also contains a detailed review of Akhmatov’s book, Italian of Empirical Accounting. Its sources were studied in detail. In particular, it was proven that Akhmatov did not copy de la Porte’s La science des negocians et teneurs de livres in full, but added some corrections and amendments to it based on the first publication of Pierre Bouchet’s book in 1800, and not on the second one as it was stated by Russian bibliographies. Moreover, Akhmatov included in his book other Russian sources as well as his own thoughts. This article contains a description of the book’s structure, content and its main ideas. It proves that Akhmatov was the first one, in Russian accounting literature, to call Luca Pacioli, the founder of the science of accounting. It examines Akhmatov’s proposals regarding the classifications of accounts and bookkeeping rules. It also considers Akhmatov’s own proposal to use a double-entry system in government institutions. Finally, it discusses the opinions of Russian historians of accounting in Russia on Akhmatov. This article describes the creation by Akhmatov of the first historical atlas of Russia. This atlas was reissued many times. It also analyses the atlas’ funding sources. It presents Akhmatov’s biography: studies, works, life in retirement. Finally, it establishes that Ivan Akhmatov was the first person in Russia to be appointed as professor of accounting at the university.