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History of Accounting -Traces To Ancient Civilizations
Various attempts have been made to locate the place and time of the birth of the double-entry system resulting in various scenarios. Most of these scenarios recognize the presence of some form of record keeping in most civilizations dating back to about 3000 BC. Included are the Chaldean-Babylonian,
Assyrian and Sumerian civilizations - the producers of the first organized government in the world, and some of the oldest written languages and the oldest surviving business records; the Egyptian civilization - where scribes formed the pivots on which the whole machinery of the treasury and other departments turned; the Chinese civilization - with government accounting playing a key and sophisticated role of the great estate of Apollonius introduced an elaborate system of responsibility accounting in 256 BC; and the Roman civilization - with laws requiring taxpayers to prepare statements of their financial positions and with civil rights depending on the level of property declared by the citizens. The presence of these forms of bookkeeping in the ancient world has been attributed to various factors, including the invention of writing, the introduction of Arabic numerals and of the decimal system, the diffusion of knowledge of algebra, the presence of inexpensive writing material, the rise of literacy, and the existence of a standard of medium of exchange.
The Development of Accounting Principles
Various groups in the United States of America (USA), Australia and elsewhere, implementing a mix of approaches, have subjected accounting theory and principles to a constant re-examination and critical analysis.
In order to simplify the discussion, four phases of this process may be identified. In the first phase (1900-33), management had complete control over the selection of financial