ABSTRACT

The generalized study of accounting history is of recent origin. We have hardly made a beginning in interpreting the history of accounting and it is time that a broader synthesis be attempted. Many accounting professionals, preoccupied with fiscal and judicial questions, still consider accounting history as unimportant, helpful only to occupy the leisure time of professors and retired businessmen. It is necessary to convince them that they are wrong and that a philosophical approach to accounting history is not only possible but desirable. The philosophy of accounting history is, in fact, the logical extension of accounting history.