Accounting History and the Rise of Civilization, Volume I (Financial Accounting and Auditing Collection)

Volume 1 of Accounting History covers the first 10,000 plus years of the rise of accounting and civilization. Conveniently, accounting was part of the developing culture from the start. With fortified villages, accumulating wealth meant inventory accounting, first using tokens (clay balls) and eventually writing plus the abstract concepts of numbers. Cultures evolved in Mesopotamia and elsewhere. After the Crusades, Italian city-states created merchant wealth based on the creation of double-entry. Luca Pacioli's Summa described the Venetian system, which traveled north thanks to Gutenberg's printing press. Enhanced forms of manufacturing, banking, and merchant trade continued. England proved to be a special place, where the Industrial Revolution was born. Along the way, accounting sophistication rose as entrepreneurs discovered the need for complex information to survive. Accounting became a profession as business became big and important enough to employ professionals. The United States went from an agrarian backwater to an industrial power in 100 years. Accounting sophistication matched business complexity, as manufacturing accounting and control techniques developed capable of providing information needed to run giant firms. Railroads became big, requiring complex accounting system. Andrew Carnegie used his railroad experience to adapt the railroad accounting systems to steel manufacturing. Industries consolidated and the need for effective accounting control became imperative. Du Pont proved to be the most effective innovator and this knowledge expanded at General Motors, systems that dominated beyond the mid-20th century. Accounting History is written for accounting and business students plus business professionals. It's not written for accounting historians, although they may find this book useful. The writing is basic without much jargon, so the general public will also find this book insightful. Annotation This book is a brief history of accounting, focusing on the long-term importance of accounting on issues from information accumulation and analysis around money and finance, business and government, and continuing success as technology and innovation expands. The focus is relatively traditional, except it intertwines with commerce, finance, and related business interests that make up what became modern civilization. For example, most corporations and other entities innovated and succeeded long-term because of increasingly complex (and useful) accounting techniques providing necessary information and control. This was true of Josiah Wedgwood, Andrew Carnegie, and General Motors. Accounting applications became early uses of computers, beginning with payroll records at General Electric in the 1950s. From electronic spreadsheets to tax preparation, the computer/accounting partnership continues Volume I of Accounting History covers the first 10,000 or so years of the rise of accounting and civilization. Conveniently, accounting was part of the developing culture from the start. Before civilization, big-brained humans still developed language, stone tools, started trade, and made both bread and beer from wild wheat. The beer and bread combo may have been the big push to settled agriculture, villages, and the start of civilization. With fortified villages and towns, accumulating wealth meant inventory accounting, first using tokens (clay balls). Increased technology, population, and power followed, as did the need for better bookkeeping Offers a brief history of accounting, focusing on the long-term importance of accounting on issues from information accumulation and analysis around money and finance, business and government, and continuing success as technology and innovation expands.