Innovation for 
European Accounting practices

"Technology has changed accounting and book-keeping. Since the first records were kept in America, bookkeepers have used a number of tools. The adding machine in 1890 helped early accountants calculate receipts and quickly reconcile their books. When IBM released the first computer in 1952, accountants were among the first to use them. Today, technology has brought accounting software such as Quickbooks."

"The father of modern accounting is an Italian monk, Luca Pacioli, who in 1494 first described the system of double-entry bookkeeping used by Venetian merchants in his 'Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita'.

Bookkeeping migrated to America with European colonization. Although it was sometimes referred to as accounting, bookkeepers were still doing basic data entry and calculations for business owners.

Up to the 1800s, investing had been either a game of knowledge or luck. People acquired issues of stock in companies with which they were familiar through industry knowledge or acquaintanceships with the owners.

To attract investors, corporations began to publish their financials in the form of a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. These documents were proof of a company's profit-making abilities."