Single-Entry Accounting in Early America: The Accounts of the Hasbrouck Family

This article extends Liyanarachchi (2009) by tracing evidence of Littleton's (1927) seven antecedents of bookkeeping that may have supported the development of Buddhist Temple Accounting (BTA) in ancient Sri Lanka. The article contextualizes the seven antecedents within the socio-economic activities of the time, including the economic significance of Indian Ocean trade. This shows that although Littleton's (1927) antecedents and a vibrant socio-economic setting were present in Sri Lanka, these supported the development of a simple accounting method which did not use double-entry bookkeeping. To explain this anomaly, the article discusses BTA vis-à-vis three other medieval developments of accounting: English manorial accounting, and early partnership and agency accounting in Italy. This shows that when societies experienced a need for accountability they successfully harnessed various capabilities of accounting to meet that need. However, the resulting accounting methods were as divergent as the socio-economic needs that motivated them. The findings support claims that accounting has "a basic core that is timeless" (Mattessich, 1998a: 200) and its development is socio-environment-specific (Perera, 1986(Perera, , 1989, but challenge the view that certain preconditions would lead to double-entry bookkeeping (Littleton, 1927).

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Antecedents of double-entry bookkeeping and Buddhist Temple Accounting

Liyanarachchi

2014

“…Dollars did appear in the descriptions accompanying many entries, and translation was performed using a standard exchange rate of US$2.50 per pound. Cash increasingly become the preferred medium of exchange as the century progressed, since a stable currency was now available (Baxter, 1946(Baxter, , 2004Wermuth, 2001;Schultz and Hollister, 2004;United States Secret Service, 2008).…”

Section: Ann Dewitt Bevier and Her Account Bookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slavery and emancipation in rural New York: Evidence from nineteenth-century accounting records

Hollister

Schultz

2010

Self Cite

Contributing to a more inclusive history, this study explores slavery and emancipation in the northeastern USA, using accounting ledgers maintained in New York’s mid-Hudson River valley during the first half of the nineteenth century. The social and economic circumstances faced by rural blacks prior to emancipation are examined using the accounting records maintained by Ann DeWitt Bevier, a wealthy widow who managed an estate staffed by both slave and free labor. Aspects of rural life after emancipation are revealed by the personal account books maintained by John Hasbrouck. These first-hand records document Hasbrouck’s employment and compensation after emancipation, and show how one African-American family adapted to freedom. This study facilitates a comparison of the practice of slavery in the North and the South, and illustrates how these differences were reflected in the type of information included in the accounting records.

“…While chronological records were kept, income accounts were not used. Schultz and Hollister (2004) study the records of several generations of a family in upstate New York and associate these records with the changing living standards from settlement in the New World through the Civil War. Customer accounts were kept, and single-entry accounting was employed, which was suitable because there was no need for financial statements at the time.…”

Section: Organization Of Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Elucidating needs, lifestyles, and community: researching a late eighteenth-century account book from Lexington, Virginia

Bloom

Solotko

2008

This article deals with the search for the identity of the individual for whom an elaborate late eighteenth-century American account book was prepared. The article is also concerned with how the account book served the needs of this merchant and how the book reflects the socioeconomic conditions of the times in which the merchant lived. This book shows his multifaceted activities as a merchant, importer, exporter and banker, highlighting the lack of specie and extensive use of barter at the time.