MAKASSAR — Accounting has a much longer and more diverse history than the modern systems used in businesses today. A 2026 article by Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa of Universitas Negeri Makassar examines how accounting practices developed across ancient civilizations and the Medieval era. The review shows that accounting evolved alongside social, economic, political, legal, and religious needs, rather than emerging from a single civilization or following one straight historical path.
The findings offer a broader way to understand accounting history. Long before modern financial statements, communities were already developing systems to record transactions, manage resources, organize labor, monitor economic activity, and support administration.
The article, published in the International Journal of Finance and Business Management (IJFBM) in 2026, connects historical evidence from different civilizations to the development of accounting concepts that remain relevant today.
Accounting Developed Alongside Human Civilization
The review by Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa presents accounting as part of the broader development of human society.
According to the literature examined in the article, accounting did not suddenly appear as a modern business practice. Its development was connected to the growth of writing systems, arithmetic, money, trade, credit, administration, and resource management.
Ancient societies needed ways to keep track of goods, labor, economic transactions, and obligations. As their institutions became more complex, their recording practices also evolved.
This perspective is important because historical discussions of accounting have often focused on particular civilizations or periods separately. The authors instead bring different historical contexts together to identify similarities and differences in how accounting developed.
Reviewing Historical Accounting Literature
The authors used a non-systematic literature review with a descriptive, exploratory, and critical approach. Rather than measuring accounting practices statistically, the review examined historical and conceptual literature describing accounting in different civilizations.
The literature was selected based on its relevance to accounting practices, auditing, record-keeping, economic administration, and accounting historiography in the historical periods examined.
The selected articles were then compared to identify recurring themes, differences between civilizations, and possible biases in how accounting history has been presented. The analysis used thematic, comparative, and critical historiographical approaches.
The article contains an inconsistency regarding the number of sources reviewed. Its methodology section refers to 24 journal articles, while the abstract and limitations section refer to 22 articles. Because of this discrepancy, the precise number should be treated cautiously.
Ancient Egypt Used Accounting for Administration and Resource Management
In Ancient Egypt, accounting practices were closely connected with government administration, labor management, and religious activities.
The literature reviewed by the authors indicates that records were used in large state projects and temple management. These records included information about labor attendance, distribution of wages in kind, food, logistics, and other economic activities.
Scribes played an important role in maintaining these records within the administrative structure. Accounting therefore functioned not simply as a way to record numbers but also as a mechanism for organizing and monitoring large-scale activities.
The Egyptian example demonstrates how accounting practices can reflect the institutional environment in which they operate.
China Developed Complex Bookkeeping Practices
China provides another important example in the historical development of accounting.
The literature discussed in the article identifies bookkeeping practices associated with the Fengshengtai company that resembled elements of double-entry bookkeeping. Transactions were recorded in two different accounts, suggesting a balancing principle comparable to aspects of modern debit-and-credit systems.
Chinese accounting practices were also used for managing cash, inventory, trade transactions, and internal organizational control. Written documents and archival records formed important parts of these systems.
For the authors, this evidence reinforces the idea that sophisticated accounting practices developed in different parts of the world according to local economic needs.
Greece and Rome Linked Accounting to Law and Administration
Accounting practices in Greek and Roman civilizations developed within strong administrative and legal environments.
In the Roman context, accounting records documented transactions involving taxes, government expenditures, and commercial activities. Accounting was also connected to credit-based economic relationships, including the recording of claims and obligations.
Written documents and archives supported state administration, trade, and asset management. These characteristics demonstrate how accounting became intertwined with legal and economic institutions.
Medieval Trade Helped Shape Modern Accounting
The Medieval period represented another major stage in the evolution of accounting.
The literature reviewed in the article indicates that concepts related to depreciation were already known during the 12th and 13th centuries, although standardized rules had not yet developed. Accounting records also became relevant to commercial legal systems.
Merchants and bankers in Northern Italy used forms of double-entry bookkeeping before the system was later formalized by Luca Pacioli. Growing trade and credit activities created greater demand for systematic records of increasingly complex transactions.
The article therefore presents double-entry bookkeeping as an important milestone in accounting history, while placing it within a much longer sequence of developments.
No Single Civilization Explains Accounting’s Evolution
One of the central conclusions from Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa is that accounting did not develop through a single, linear path.
Trade, capital, credit, writing, arithmetic, money, cultural practices, political structures, and administrative requirements interacted differently across societies. These factors helped produce distinctive accounting practices in different historical settings.
At the same time, the authors identify common functions. Across several civilizations, accounting was used to manage resources, record transactions, support administration, and maintain accountability. The differences largely appeared in how those functions were organized and adapted to particular institutional environments.
This means modern accounting can be understood as the result of multiple historical contributions rather than the product of one tradition alone.
Implications for Accounting Education
The broader historical perspective also has implications for accounting education.
Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa argue that accounting history can be presented in a more inclusive and contextual way. Understanding the contributions of different civilizations may help students see accounting not only as a technical discipline but also as a social practice shaped by institutions, culture, economics, and history.
The authors also recommend future research using more systematic methods, broader historical sources, archival evidence, and interdisciplinary perspectives involving areas such as anthropology, sociology, and economic history.
The article's broader message is straightforward: accounting has always evolved alongside society. Its history reflects how people have organized resources, managed economic relationships, documented obligations, and built systems of accountability.
Author Profile
Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa are affiliated with Universitas Negeri Makassar. Their work examines the historical development of accounting, accounting practices across civilizations, accounting historiography, and the relationship between accounting and social, economic, political, and institutional contexts.
Research Source
Article Title: Accounting in The Mesopotamian Era, The Ancient Egyptian Kingdom, China, Greece, Rome, And The Medieval Period
Authors: Masdar Ryketeng and Kartika Septiary Musa
Affiliation: Universitas Negeri Makassar
Journal: International Journal of Finance and Business Management (IJFBM)
Publication Year: 2026
Volume: 3, No. 3
Pages: 305–318
DOI: 10.59890/ijfbm.v4i3.10
Journal Website: International Journal of Finance and Business Management
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