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The Rules of Double-entry Bookkeeping: Particularis De Computis Et Scripturis
Luca Pacioli's (1494) historic treatise on double-entry bookkeeping entitled "Particularis de computis et scripturis" (About accounts and other writings) is the first published book on present-day double-entry bookkeeping, a historic document that was a bestseller at its time printed on the Gutenberg press, providing a detailed description of Venetian bookkeeping. The treatise is contained in his work "Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita".
- GenresEconomics
102 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1975
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About the author
Luca Pacioli
48 books17 followersItalian mathematician that was born between 1446 and 1448 and died in 1517.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 11, 2017
This book is in desperate need of modernization! Archaic, anachronistic language, poor scanning techniques, and no effort to make the text more accessible, makes this book a ripoff.
July 8, 2018
Rating is for this edition (as opposed to the original text.) Too many issues with the formatting to list.
Want to read
May 22, 2020Very good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2025
(1494)
CHAPTER 17
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS WITH THE PUBLIC OFFICES AND WHY. THE CAMERA DE L'IMPRESTI (MUNICIPAL LOAN BANK) IN VENICE, WHICH IS MANAGED BY SESTIERI (DISTRICTS)
I shall not give you any more rules for the other items - that is, leather goods for coverings, tanned or raw etc., for each of which you shall make entries in the Journal and Ledger, carefully writing down everything and checking off etc., without forgetting anything, because the merchant must have a much better understanding of things than a butcher.
If you have accounts with the Camera de L'Impresti, or with other banks, as in Florence or with the Monte de la Dote, in Genoa, as well as similar offices or bureaux with which you have business, see that you keep these accounts very clearly, and obtain good written evidence as to debits and credits in the handwriting of the clerks in those institutions. This advice you will carefully follow, for reasons to be explained in the chapter on documents and letters. Because in these offices they often change their clerks, and as each one of these clerks likes to keep the books in his own way, he is always blaming the previous clerk, saying that they did not keep the books in good order, and they are always trying to make you believe that their way is better than all the others, so that at times they mix up the accounts in the books of these offices in such a way that they do not correspond with anything. Woe to you if you have anything to do with these people. Therefore, be very careful when dealing with them and be observant at home and keep your head in the store. Maybe they mean well, nevertheless they may show ignorance. In this way you shall keep accounts with the Gabellari and Datiarii (revenue officers) as to the things that you might sell or buy, things that you grow, things that you plant etc., as it is the custom in Venice where people are used to keeping an account through the office of the Messetaria (market master or exchange), some at 2%, some at 1%, some at 4%. You should mention the book of the broker through whom transactions are made, and also mention the special mark that the broker has in his book - that is, the book in which he makes a record of the market transaction at said office which they call "Chiamans" in Venice. For each broker has a book in the said office, or a place in some book in said office, in which he has to make a record of all the transactions which he has with the citizens of the town or with outsiders. If the broker should not do that, he would be fined and dismissed.
And justly the glorious republic of Venice punishes them and their clerks who should misbehave. I know of many who, in the past years, have been heavily punished, and right they are in having one officer whose only duty is to oversee all these officers and their books whether they are well kept or not.
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https://ia902207.us.archive.org/23/it...
CHAPTER 17
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS WITH THE PUBLIC OFFICES AND WHY. THE CAMERA DE L'IMPRESTI (MUNICIPAL LOAN BANK) IN VENICE, WHICH IS MANAGED BY SESTIERI (DISTRICTS)
I shall not give you any more rules for the other items - that is, leather goods for coverings, tanned or raw etc., for each of which you shall make entries in the Journal and Ledger, carefully writing down everything and checking off etc., without forgetting anything, because the merchant must have a much better understanding of things than a butcher.
If you have accounts with the Camera de L'Impresti, or with other banks, as in Florence or with the Monte de la Dote, in Genoa, as well as similar offices or bureaux with which you have business, see that you keep these accounts very clearly, and obtain good written evidence as to debits and credits in the handwriting of the clerks in those institutions. This advice you will carefully follow, for reasons to be explained in the chapter on documents and letters. Because in these offices they often change their clerks, and as each one of these clerks likes to keep the books in his own way, he is always blaming the previous clerk, saying that they did not keep the books in good order, and they are always trying to make you believe that their way is better than all the others, so that at times they mix up the accounts in the books of these offices in such a way that they do not correspond with anything. Woe to you if you have anything to do with these people. Therefore, be very careful when dealing with them and be observant at home and keep your head in the store. Maybe they mean well, nevertheless they may show ignorance. In this way you shall keep accounts with the Gabellari and Datiarii (revenue officers) as to the things that you might sell or buy, things that you grow, things that you plant etc., as it is the custom in Venice where people are used to keeping an account through the office of the Messetaria (market master or exchange), some at 2%, some at 1%, some at 4%. You should mention the book of the broker through whom transactions are made, and also mention the special mark that the broker has in his book - that is, the book in which he makes a record of the market transaction at said office which they call "Chiamans" in Venice. For each broker has a book in the said office, or a place in some book in said office, in which he has to make a record of all the transactions which he has with the citizens of the town or with outsiders. If the broker should not do that, he would be fined and dismissed.
And justly the glorious republic of Venice punishes them and their clerks who should misbehave. I know of many who, in the past years, have been heavily punished, and right they are in having one officer whose only duty is to oversee all these officers and their books whether they are well kept or not.
****
https://ia902207.us.archive.org/23/it...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews