First published in 1996. This book summarises the Seminar held in Edinburgh in 1994 in the five hundredth year since the publication of Luca Pacioli's Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita. Its purpose is simple but relevant to every accountant. It revisits some fundamentals that lay behind Pacioli's decision to write his Summa, and examines whether the accounting framework in which we work today has overlooked basic issues because of its continued focus on development of the existing financial accounting model. It analyses Pacioli's legacy from several different perspectives, deliberately choosing to do so in ways that addressed considerations that his work reflected, examining the nature and characteristics of the bridge between academic analysis and insight on the one hand and practical application on the other. It also looks at the dominant influences in the evolution of accountancy for managing stewardship and for reporting of that stewardship. By doing so, it attempts to identify influences that had been less pressing and so had been ignored or overlooked, and also considers how changing technology has affected the way we manage the accountancy process.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.

Written over a period of twenty years the papers included here reflect the changing circumstances around the study of accounting history.

The journal Accounting History was published in eight volumes intermittently between 1976 and 1986. It had a relatively small circulation and this re-issue of its anthology provides the opportunity for many of the articles which appeared in the journal over the years to once again reach a wider audience. The volume begins with items of a general nature, covering the importance of preserving accounting records and accounting history in general. Subsequent categories deal with the methodology of historical accounting research, government accounting, taxation, bankruptcy, professional accountancy and accounting theory, as well as auditing and management accounting.

The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.

This book, first published in 1986, is a celebration of Scottish accounting influence and tradition. The essays are critical contributions to the study of accounting history, split into two main sections: the development of accounting thought and practice prior to the emergence of a regulated accountancy profession; and the problems faced in the first 70 years of the accountancy profession.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Stephen Zeff has been a prolific researcher on the history of accounting and auditing in the twentieth century. He has written numerous papers on the history of standard setting and regulation, of accounting and auditing practice, of the accounting profession, of accounting thought, and of the intellectual contributions of major authors (such as Hatfield, Canning, Paton and MacNeal). This volume brings together the greatest hits of Zeff's academic career, including several articles that were published in out-of-the way places, for easier use by students and researchers of the field. In an introduction, Zeff discusses the evolution of his research interests and explains the factors led to the writing of the papers and their intended contribution to the literature. The book also includes a complete list of his publications.

This volume deals with the evolution of accounting from earliest times, and gives particular attention to corporate accounting developments since the Industrial Revolution. The author identifies the various sources of accounting practices employed by British companies, to demonstrate the main changes which have taken place, when they occurred and why. The author emphasises the need to understand the legal, social and economic context in which accountancy changes take place, and also studies the conflicts which arise between suppliers and users of accounting statements. The study concludes with an examination of the duties performed by the professional accountant, the extent to which these have changed in the course of time and how his position in society is reinforced by the activities of professional institutions.