A Systematic View of the History of the World of Accounting

This paper seeks an explanation of the nature of accounting in a relatively unique way. The world of accounting is broadly defined as a social system, involving the functional systems of education, practice and research; including organizational systems such as firms, professional bodies and universities; and interacting with other organizational systems such as in business and government. This complex nesting of systems is examined in a historical context, the aim being to observe its development and layering from the earliest times to the present day -essentially as the occupation of accountant has gradually changed to become the profession of accounting. In other words, accounting is examined historically within the context of the actions of accountants. In particular, the approach of the paper is to study the historical development of accounting in a systems context and to identify accepted characteristics of systems behaviour. What are therefore examined in the paper are actions which bound or close the accounting system, and thus define its shape, purpose and relationships - particularly with respect to its body of knowledge as expressed in terms of the functional systems of education, practice and research.