The Practice and Culture of Accounting in Renaissance Florence

Richard Goldthwaite

Enterprise & Society, 2015, vol. 16, issue 3, 611-647

Abstract: This article explores cultural aspects of the unique archival patrimony of private account books that survive for Florence from the fourteenth to the early seventeenth century, a period corresponding to the city’s greatness as a center of both Renaissance culture and early capitalism. The discussion first surveys the diffusion and the standardization of accounting practice throughout the society, the educational process behind this development, and the emergence of the professional accountant. It then analyzes double entry in its application to both business (including industrial) and domestic accounts in the attempt to extend our knowledge of the accounting reality in this pre-modern capitalist economy beyond the traditional view derived from manuals and theoretical notions. The conclusion examines the cultural functions of Florentine accounting practice ranging from the so-called spirit of capitalism in the business world to some particular characteristics that disposed Florentines in general toward this kind of record keeping.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ ... type/journal_article link to article abstract page (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:entsoc:v:16:y:2015:i:03:p:611-647_00

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Enterprise & Society from Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press, UPH, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kirk Stebbing ().