Running Head: Introduction to Accounting 1

Introduction to Accounting Jesse Vitkow ACC/280 1/18/2012 Maria Aurora Makalintal – Torio

The public be damned; I am working for my stockholders
William Vanderbilt

The beginning of accounting can be attributed to a time period of the Renaissance. In the late 1400’s, Italy was a dominating factor when it came to commerce and mainly distribution. In order for the market to stay a float and prosper, mathematicians were called upon to see that all transactions be notarized; and this is when a man by the name of Luca Pacioli came about. In his 1494 text Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportione et Proportionalite, Pacioli described a system to ensure that financial information was recorded efficiently and accurately. It was central to the success of Italian merchants, necessary to the birth of
Running Head: Introduction to Accounting 2

the Renaissance. Industrial Revolution firms required accountants to provide the information necessary to avoid bankruptcy and their role developed into a profession. (Weygandt, Jerry J., Financial Accounting 6e, (Ch.1) copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc .)

Centuries later, the United States of America was born and still in the early stages of commerce. By the 1970s and 80s, American production management and cost accounting seemed obsolete. American firms’ began restructuring, focusing on quality and customers, productivity and cost cutting, and inventing new cost and management accounting procedures. Our government was back on top, although much of world economy found extreme economic problems.
Evolution has shown us that there is always room to grow, and growth does not happen unless experiences are acquired. Throughout