Evolution of Accounting Since Luca Paciolo

Abstract

In 1494 Luca Paciolo, an Italian monk, undertook to summarize contemporary mathematical knowledge. His treatise included "De Computis et Scripturis," thirty-six chapters on bookkeeping as practiced in Venice. These chapters became the foundation of the double-entry accounting that spread throughout Europe and later into the United States. Paciolo provided a practical model for recording and summarizing business transactions. Business continuity under the corporate form stimulated accounting theory. Evolving accounting theory, tax regulations, and court decisions modified the original accounting model, but Paciolo's double-entry structure still influences business throughout the modern world.