ABSTRACT
Double-entry bookkeeping originated in Italy during the fifteenth century. Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan monk and renowned mathematician, published the first complete description of double-entry bookkeeping in 1494. Pacioli’s treatise was translated into English, Dutch, Russian, and German. Merchants throughout the world soon adopted the “Venetian” or double-entry method of recording transactions. Doubleentry bookkeeping remains the foundation of accounting and financial reporting today.
