In our continuing exploration of Luca Pacioli’s documentation of bookkeeping in 1494, this weeks’ video highlights the purpose of Debits and Credits. Bookkeeping has a flow to it. Like raw materials through a production line, amounts in various accounts rarely are static. The balances increase, and decrease, and move from one account to another. Debits and Credits simply make that movement happen. In a recent … Continue reading Pacioli, Debits and Credits
Today I was asked to present to a math class at a local high school how my career had developed, and some advice on how they might think about college and future work. Perhaps my hour lecture ideas might be helpful to others. In it I talk about my background, tell a couple of funny stories about travel, discuss blockchain and financial systems, and give … Continue reading Gratitude for Teachers, and Career Advice to High Schoolers
Luca Pacioli described three books to be used in bookkeeping in his 1494 treaties: The Day Book, the Journal, and the Ledger. All three of these “books” typically exist in modern financial systems. The Day Book is the original transaction repository, today in what is often referred to as the source system, or original book of record. The Journal contains debit/credit representations, and today is … Continue reading The Three Books of Bookkeeping
Luca Pacioli started the bookkeeping process by describing how to take an inventory of things. This is because financial reporting begins with the Balance Sheet. Although earnings gets all the attention in financial analysis, earnings and the Income Statement that documents it, is defined as a change between two Balance Sheets. This week’s video discussed chapter 2 of Pacioli’s book about how to take an … Continue reading Pacioli Starts Bookkeeping with an Inventory
This week’s video begins to digest the bookkeeping portion of Pacioli’s book, talking about his focus on being ethical, and why that is important. Pacioli, in the first page of discussing bookkeeping, says: “In the business world, nothing is consider more important than the word of a reputable businessman. Promissory notes are honored and accepted based upon a businessman’s reputation. Confidence, faith in reputable businessmen, is what … Continue reading Luca Pacioli & Business Ethics
