Bookkeeping is the process of recording and maintaining business information. The word 'book' derives from the Old English 'bookak,' which means a roll of parchment or paper. Early civilizations used tally books (journals) to keep track of agricultural production. Today, bookkeeping technology has advanced to the point that it functions as an automated system, well, for large parts of the process anyway. The automation process still needs a well-qualified human to check and ensure everything is in the right place.

The earliest known bookkeeping practice occurred in the Sumerian civilization in southern Iraq around 3200 BC. That’s over 5000 years ago. So maybe bookkeeping is the world’s oldest profession! Tally books were used then as they are now in accounting. These tally books contained columns for names, amounts and prices of items sold or produced. They also had columns for recording income and expenses.

The first known documentation of the double-entry system was first recorded in Europe around the 13th century but there are also some claims it dates back further to the Roman times or early medieval Middle Eastern societies. Regardless, the general concept has been around for some time and the basics have not changed much.

Double-entry bookkeeping is based on balancing the accounting equation. The accounting equation serves as an error detection tool; if at any point the sum of debits for all accounts does not equal the corresponding sum of credits for all accounts, an error has occurred.

Modern bookkeepers use computers, cloud based software and AI to assist them with their tasks as technology has allowed them to adapt to new needs and ways of processing information. However, like all systems the correct information needs to be entered at one end to obtain accurate information at the other and this still requires someone with a good understanding of old fashioned, double entry bookkeeping and modern accounting practices to set it all up and ensure the numbers are correct!

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