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Bury pacioli in africa: a bookkeeper's reification of accountancy

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  • Aida Sy
  • Tony Tinker

Abstract

The origins of accountancy are all too frequently equated with the antecedents of double‐entry bookkeeping, notwithstanding warnings from both Pacioli and Littleton to the contrary. It is ironic that Pacioli—the formalizer of double‐entry bookkeeping—is lionized today in the appellation, ‘Father of Accounting’. Here, we argue that this promotion of Pacioli the Technocrat fails to acknowledge incipient social aspects of his work (and that found in more ancient texts). Further, we contend that such reconstructions of Paciolian and ancient works are not entirely innocent. Rather, they fit nicely with a Eurocentric and post‐colonial ideology, which anoints with enthusiasm an Italian monk as accounting's premier contributor to modern civilization (sic). This view simultaneously construes other civilizations as underdeveloped, pre‐modern, and even barbaric (with the corollary of providing a moral pretext for invading, occupying and ‘saving’ a subjugated people). It should come as no surprise that Western accounting scholars haven't searched too hard for alternative ‘Fathers of Accounting’ among colonized civilizations. This article, in contrast to the orthodox wisdom, seeks to redeem Littleton's notion of ‘Accountancy’ in a way that encompasses the diversity of counting, measuring, recording, reporting and accountability that functioned in different ancient and contemporary social formations. Such a view introduces an older and richer lineage for accountancy—as a field that is, and always has been, integral to social, political and cultural life. In short, we propose burying Pacioli the Bookkeeper, and redeeming Pacioli the Social Actor, by explicating the social, cultural and political content inchoate in his work, and that found in even more explicit pre‐Paciolian ancient texts (particularly those from Africa, that reach back to the Dawn of Civilization).

Suggested Citation

  • Aida Sy & Tony Tinker, 2006. "Bury pacioli in africa: a bookkeeper's reification of accountancy," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 42(1), pages 105-127, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:42:y:2006:i:1:p:105-127
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6281.2006.00189.x
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    1. Burchell, Stuart & Clubb, Colin & Hopwood, Anthony & Hughes, John & Nahapiet, Janine, 1980. "The roles of accounting in organizations and society," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 5-27, January.
    2. Andre Gunder Frank, 1978. "Dependent Accumulation and Underdevelopment," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-16014-3, December.
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    3. James, Kieran, 2009. "“This is England”: Punk rock's realist/idealist dialectic and its implications for critical accounting education," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 127-145.
    4. Jones, Michael John & Oldroyd, David, 2015. "The ‘internationalisation’ of accounting history publishing," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 117-123.
    5. Seny Kan, Konan A. & Agbodjo, Serge & Gandja, Serge V., 2021. "Accounting polycentricity in Africa: Framing an ‘accounting and development’ research agenda," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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