Summary of two papers: State of Bookkeeping in Upper Germany at the Time of the Fuggers and Welsers, by Hermann Kellenbenz; Survey of the Development of Auditing in Germany, by Rosa-Elizabeth Gassman

Gassmann, Rosa-Elizabeth

Homburger, Richard H.

Kellenbenz, Hermann

English

eGrove (Univ. of Mississippi)

Accounting Historians JournalVolume 1Issue 1 No. 1/4 January-October 1974 Article 61974Summaries of papers presented at the FirstInternational Accounting History SymposiumRichard H. HomburgerHermann KellenbenzRosa-Elizabeth GassmannFollow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journalPart of the Accounting Commons, and the Taxation CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Archival Digital Accounting Collection at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion inAccounting Historians Journal by an authorized editor of eGrove. For more information, please contact egrove@olemiss.edu.Recommended CitationHomburger, Richard H.; Kellenbenz, Hermann; and Gassmann, Rosa-Elizabeth (1974) "Summaries of papers presented at the FirstInternational Accounting History Symposium," Accounting Historians Journal: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 6.Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal/vol1/iss1/6R. H. Homburger WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES OF PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING HISTORY SYMPOSIUM The State of Bookkeeping in Upper Germany at the Time of the Fuggers and Welsers By Dr. Hermann Kellenbenz University of Cologne I. Since the work of Penndorf on the subject, appearing in 1913, substantial new research has been done and considerable progress been made. Among the authors being mentioned are the following: Prior to World War II: Jakob Strieders, A. Hummel, Alfred Weitnauer, Joseph Loef-fenholz. After World War II: Raymond deRoover, Wolfgang Stromer von Reichenbach, Goetz, Freiherr von Poelnitz, Hanns Linhardt, and his students Hartmut Schiele and Manfred Ricker. II. Bookkeeping developments in Germany can be observed since the end of the 13th century. The earliest books are in Latin; but since the middle of the 14th century, a gradual change to the German language can be observed. The earliest available sources come from the hanseatic cities of Lower Germany, such as Luebeck and Rostock. Their approach to bookkeeping procedure is very con-servative and no traces of double entry are noticeable in these early records. In South Germany, more reliance was placed on the Italian method at an early stage, considerably earlier than the publication of Pacioli's Summa. It was customary to send the sons of South German merchants to Italy to study the Italian double entry method —Jacob Fugger visited there in 1473; thus South German firms, in Nuremberg and other cities, developed bookkeeping under the Italian method. The transition from Roman to Arabic numerals was 1Homburger et al.: Summaries of papers presented at the First International Accounting History SymposiumPublished by eGrove, 197414 The Accounting Historians Journal, Volume 1 a gradual one; sometimes, the detail was reported in Roman, and the totals and subtotals in Arabic numerals. III. The development of the bookkeeping system of the Fuggers is traced in some detail. Each branch maintained a Journal, Obliga-tions Ledger (Schuldbuch) and an Inventory Ledger (Gueterbuch). The Obligations Ledger contained all the personal accounts and a cash record with receipts and disbursements. Transactions involving receipts and issues in the Inventory Ledger were related to recipro-cal entries in the cash record (Obligations Ledger). Entries recipro-cal to the entries in the books of the branches were made on the books of the Augsburg Home Office, and balances were reconciled with those of the branches. Inventories were taken from time to time—not necessarily every year, inventory figures being determined at current values. A balance sheet was drawn in account form in conjunction with the inventory, and profits were determined by comparison with the last balance sheet. One such report is available, covering the period from December 31, 1527 to December 31, 1533. IV. The enterprise of the Welsers was considerably smaller than that of the Fuggers. While we know that 250 books were in existence for the years 1534-1575, only fragments of some books have come to us. Transactions were first recorded in subsidiary records, then posted to the Journal and to the Main Ledger. We have no inven-tories or balance sheets from the Welsers, but have such reports from another firm—Anton Haug, Hans Langnauer and Ulrich Linck— from the years 1531-1551. They contain 12 inventories and balance sheets. All accounts of this period are in bilateral form, with refer-ences to related entries. V. These developments are also reflected in the literature of the period. Books to be mentioned in this connection are the earliest German texts on bookkeeping such as Heinrich Schreiger (1518), Johann Gottlieb (1531), Gottfried (1546), Ellenberger (1537), and Schweickert (1549). These texts illustrate and demand, in varying degrees, the procedures related to bookkeeping, inventories, and balancing practiced by the early German merchants. Survey of the Development of Auditing in Germany By Rosa-Elizabeth Gassmann Librarian of the Institute of Auditors in Germany According to Penndorf, the Fuggers and Welsers were the first private enterprises in Germany having their books audited. The first 2Accounting Historians Journal, Vol. 1 [1974], Iss. 1, Art. 6https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal/vol1/iss1/6Hamburger: International Papers 15 audits were internal audits; but later on, external audits were em-ployed for the purpose of control. Aside from this, there were in-dependent auditors appointed by the courts in case of disputes or business failures. An early example of such an external audit dates back to 1578. A major purpose of such early audits was the dis-covery of fraud. The number of early audits was relatively small; only since the industrial revolution did their number increase. The corporate form of business led to compulsory examination of financial records. At the time there were no mandatory qualifications prescribed for examiners; but communal authorities and chambers of commerce were permitted to lay down guidelines for their qualifications. The University of Leipzig was instrumental in introducing a pro-gram for the training and certification of auditors. Professional organizations also began to subject their members to professional examinations. The first uniform examination was prescribed in 1924. In 1931 mandatory examination of year-end financial statements of corporations was introduced. The function of the examiner of financial statements was ex-panded through legislation of 1959 and 1965. Included were the examination of the entire financial report, as well as the full exami-nation of enterprise relations with affiliated concerns. Aside from this, mandatory examination was expanded to include non-corporate enterprises of a certain size. The preceding presentation is in no way meant to be complete; but it shows that the scope of independent examination has been expanded to constitute a comprehensive guardianship, not only in the interest of the enterprise under review, but also of the economy as a whole. (Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 4, 1974) 3Homburger et al.: Summaries of papers presented at the First International Accounting History SymposiumPublished by eGrove, 1974

Summaries of papers presented at the First International Accounting History Symposium

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Summaries of papers presented at the First International Accounting History Symposium

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