Evolution of Accounting Thought
Eldon S. Hendriksen and Michael F. van Breda, Four Thousand Years of Accounting, Chapter 2 of Accounting Theory, 5th edition, Irwin, 1992 Accountancy, from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
Contents of lecture notes: 1. Introduction 2. Why bother with the history of accounting? 3. The beginnings 4. So what is ‘accounting’ (or ‘accountancy’)? 5. Double-entry accounting 6. Why double-entry accounting? 7. The period 1500 to 1800 8. The period 1800 to 1955 9. The period 1955 to 1970 10. The period 1970 to the present 11. The Conceptual Framework Project 12. Summary of developments over the period 1800 to the present 13. Emergence of the profession 14. Legislation 15. The industrial revolution 16. Management accounting 17. Contemporary accounting challenges (profession) 18. Accounting research
1. Introduction Accounting in the world today is a highly developed research discipline and a well-organised and structured profession. We trace the development of accounting as a well-recognised discipline and profession, and the evolution of accounting thought, over many centuries. The practice of accounting today is directed and constrained by the pronouncements of professional bodies and by the requirements of legal statutes in many different jurisdictions around the world. It was not always so: as with all professional and other followings, accounting has developed progressively from small beginnings over a long time. Likewise from small beginnings, accounting research developed from individual and dis-connected contributions to a worldwide (and connected) discipline: hundreds of researchers disseminate their work through academic journals, conferences, congresses and departmental seminars and research curriculums. There are several lines of research and different approaches.
2. Why bother with the history of accounting? There are two reasons why a study of the development of accounting is important, and worth the effort. 1. In
Contents of lecture notes: 1. Introduction 2. Why bother with the history of accounting? 3. The beginnings 4. So what is ‘accounting’ (or ‘accountancy’)? 5. Double-entry accounting 6. Why double-entry accounting? 7. The period 1500 to 1800 8. The period 1800 to 1955 9. The period 1955 to 1970 10. The period 1970 to the present 11. The Conceptual Framework Project 12. Summary of developments over the period 1800 to the present 13. Emergence of the profession 14. Legislation 15. The industrial revolution 16. Management accounting 17. Contemporary accounting challenges (profession) 18. Accounting research
1. Introduction Accounting in the world today is a highly developed research discipline and a well-organised and structured profession. We trace the development of accounting as a well-recognised discipline and profession, and the evolution of accounting thought, over many centuries. The practice of accounting today is directed and constrained by the pronouncements of professional bodies and by the requirements of legal statutes in many different jurisdictions around the world. It was not always so: as with all professional and other followings, accounting has developed progressively from small beginnings over a long time. Likewise from small beginnings, accounting research developed from individual and dis-connected contributions to a worldwide (and connected) discipline: hundreds of researchers disseminate their work through academic journals, conferences, congresses and departmental seminars and research curriculums. There are several lines of research and different approaches.
2. Why bother with the history of accounting? There are two reasons why a study of the development of accounting is important, and worth the effort. 1. In