Matakuliah
Tahun
: F0122 – Seminar Akuntansi
: 2009
A Brief History of Accounting
Pertemuan 01
More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief
History of Accounting
Accounting Seminar
Week 1
Prepared by: Gatot Soepriyanto, SE.,
Ak, M.Buss (Acc)
WHO WAS THE FIRST ACCOUNTANT?
The candidates are:
8000 BCE
Jerry of Jericho
First used "tokens" to accurately count the temple's wealth
3100 BCE
Marion the Sumerian
Invented Cuneiform writing to determine the king's wealth & tribute payments
0
Jerome of Rome
Rich Romans kept financial records in memo form and on ledgers. Scribes
kept detailed financial records of the Empire
1299
Amatino Manucci
Florentine merchant, developed the first known financial records that included
all major components of double entry bookkeeping
1494
Luca Pacioli
Publication of Summa, which included the first full description of the Italian
method of double entry bookkeeping
1772
Josiah Wedgwood
Industrial Revolution entrepreneur that developed innovative cost accounting
records following a severe recession
1854
William Cooper
Early founder of a Big Six firm, important to the development of the British
accounting profession
1920
Donaldson Brown
GM CFO developed the "modern" cost accounting system used by industrial
giants to control vast operations
Source: http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/FIRST.html
WHO WAS THE FIRST ACCOUNTANT?
• The winner: Amatino Manucci,
– the writer of the earliest surviving complete
double entry bookkeeping system.
• Modern accounting is not fundamentally different
from that of Manucci.
• He's not likely to become a household name, but
should be recognized as the First Accountant.
Early Accounting
4000 B.C. (Tokens and Envelopes in Sumeria)
Accounting in the Middle Ages
Milestones in Accounting History
• 1330 northern Italian trading cities employ Visitatore to
review the books of merchants
• 1494 Prof. Pacioli establishes the classic double
accounting system
Milestones in Accounting History (2)
• 1581 founding of the „Collegio die Ragionati“, the first
professional accounting organization
• 16th century- introduction of internal accounting in the
larger trade and banking institutions (Fugger)
Milestones in Accounting History (3)
• British Companies Act of 1844- requirement
of the annual appointment of auditors to
examine the accounts and financial
statements of all public companies
• 1849-1873 founding of the first audit firms
(Deloitte, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Peat
Marwick) in London
Milestones in Accounting History (4)
• 1929- Black Tuesday and the Great
Depression
• 1933- Creation of the SEC with authority to
regulate financial reporting of public
companies (partially delegated to the AIA,
predecssor of the AICPA)
• 1971 establishment of the Financial
Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as
independent body
Milestones in Accounting History (5)
• Late 19th and early 20th centuriesdevelopment of multinational companies
(origin of cross-border consolidated financial
statements)
• Late
20th
centuryevolution
of
accounting/audit firms into multidisciplinary
partnerships (MDPs)
• 1990s stock market boom and crash
• Financial collapse of major US companies
(Enron, Worldcom, Tyco)
Milestones in Accounting History (6)
• Restructuring of accounting/auditing industry
(divestiture of management consulting
business, Final Rule on Auditor
Independence)
• Financial collapse of major non-US
companies (Parmalat, Ahold)
• Sarbanes Oxley Act (August 2002)
Sarbanes Oxley Act
• Creation of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (PCAOB)- end to self-regulation
• Additional restrictions on non-audit services
provided by audit firms
• Enhanced role of audit committee (§301)
• Increased financial literacy requirements for audit
committees („financial expert“ requirement §407)
• CEO certification of financials (§§ 302, 906)
• Internal control review (§404)
Complementary Reading
Materials/Papers
– See additional material/additional link:
• History of Accounting
– by John R. Alexander (USA Association of Chartered Accountants 2002)
• Columbus's First Voyage: Profit Or Loss From A
Historical Accountant's Perspective
– By David Satava, University of Houston, Victoria (The Journal of
Applied Business Research – Fourth Quarter 2007)