Timeline of Key Events Regarding Accounting and Financial Reporting
4000 BC Archeological findings in lower Mesopotamia show that scribes accounted for temple income on clay tablets.
27 BC In Ancient Rome, an account-keeper, also called dispensator or procurator, is employed to maintain stewardship of financial matters.
33 AD Jesus of Nazareth affirms a citizen’s duty to pay taxes: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17).
60 The Bible describes internal control procedures such as the use of accounting reports to monitor a steward's performance (Jesus’s parable of the ‘unjust steward,’ Luke 16:1-3) and dual custody of assets (Apostle Paul’s handling financial gift, 2 Corinthians 8:18-20).
1086 William the Conqueror’s Doomsday Book is compiled, providing detailed information about England and Wales from which taxes were levied.
1200s The development and spread of manorial accounting, the proffer system, and tallies throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1455 Johann Gutenberg invents the movable type printing press.
1494 Friar Luca Pacioli authors first book on double-entry accounting.
1600 East India Company, early joint-stock corporation, established with royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I.
1629 Appointment of auditors to examine the accounts of Massachusetts Bay colony.
1792 New York stock exchange established.
1853 Institute of Accountants is established in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
1851 First US college accounting course taught at University of Louisiana.
1870s College accounting courses taught at University of Chicago.
1896 New York is first US state to pass CPA legislation.
1899 First woman CPA, Christine Ross of New York.
1928 Helen Lowe, Chartered Accountant, starts her own accounting practice in Scotland.
1930s US securities acts of 1933 and 1934 require filing and public disclosure of audited financial statements to the SEC.
1946 The first electronic computer, ENIAC, is constructed at the University of Pennsylvania.
1969 ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, established with four nodes: UCLA, Stanford, UC-Santa Barbara, and University of Utah.
1973 International Accounting Standards Committee established, forerunner of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
1980s Widespread use of microcomputers, particularly for word processing and spreadsheet applications.
1991 Sir Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN in Geneva, develops the World Wide Web in a relatively innocuous newsgroup, "alt.hypertext." Later, people refer to the Internet itself as the Web. The impact on e-commerce is profound.
1995 The Bottom Line is Betrayal authored by K.T. Smith, L.M. Smith, and D.L. Crumbley: the first business educational novel combining accounting, international trade, global marketing, and emerging technologies (7th edition published in 2014).
1998 Olivia F. Kirtley becomes first woman Chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).
2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act signed into law by President George W. Bush, contains provisions regarding corporate governance, auditing, and financial reporting of public companies, including provisions designed to prevent and punish corporate accounting fraud and corruption.
2005 European Union requires use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by publicly traded companies in the EU.
2007 US Securities and Exchange Commission accepts IFRS for financial reporting by non-US companies listed in the US stock market (no Form 20-F reconciliation to USA GAAP) if those companies use IFRS in their home country.
2009 The implementation of the Codification of U.S. GAAP.
2014 Olivia F. Kirtley becomes first woman President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
2021 International Financial Reporting Standards accepted or required in over 140 countries.
__________
Cite as follows: Smith, L.M. (2021). Timeline of Key Events Regarding Accounting and Financial Reporting. Available at: bit.ly/accounting-timeline.
Back to Dr. Smith's Homepage: bit.ly/drmurphysmith2.