earlier synthetic balance sheet of Datini's Company in Avignon (1410)

Abstract

When studying accounting history, the use of archival sources is very important. Unfortunately, when scholars explore the genesis of accounting practice, archival sources are not often used. This paper does so, presenting a detailed explanation of features of the accounting system used by Francesco di Marco Datini’s’ company in Avignon 14091410. This accounting system used stocktaking and double entry in order to determination of the operating result and produce an analytical balance sheet. This study analyzed the Quaderno di Ragionamento (the book for drawing-up final accounts, including the financial result) with the aim of clarifying the features of this process. It also investigated the procedure used in preparing the synthetic balance sheet, a process not known previously elsewhere. This research was based on the archival material comprising of account books of the medieval merchant company of Datini, preserved in the State Archive in Prato.

Pacioli's Lens: Through a Glass, Darkly

“…Moreover examples of such adjustments are found in contemporary Italian DEB accounts of that time (e.g. de Roover 1955Roover , 1956Yamey 2012;Goldthwaite 2015;Kuter, Gurskaya, and Aleinikov 2020). 17 Indeed they can be found in non-DEB accounts from earlier times and from elsewhere in the world (e.g.…”