24th Monthly Article on Digital Transformation Blockchain Accounting and Auditing August-2021
Introduction
Accounting in common parlance is the process for identifying, measuring, recognising, recording, and reporting economic events to facilitate informed judgements and decisions by internal and external stakeholders. Four frameworks, viz., Conceptual, Institutional, Regulatory and Legal, are followed for establishing authenticity, fairness, relevance, reliability, and integrity of financial information. The said second framework is structured by various accounting standards as crafted by apex accounting institutions befitting the dynamics of emerging business ecosystem and country specific needs, and finally recognised in the related laws of respective countries. Like any legislated law or regulation, historically the first two frameworks of accounting also owe lineage to practices followed by people. Researchers have established that Franciscan Luca Pacioli, considered as the ‘Father of Accounting’, did not ideate, or invent double entry accounting system. In his book (1494) titled ‘Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita’1 he simply described the methods practised by Venetian merchants for keeping transactional records during the Italian Renaissance period. The first accounting book was one of the five sections in Fra Pacioli’s mathematics book and the only textbook available till the 16th century for accounting. Many present day institutional frameworks, as opined by researchers, also stand on the foundation laid by Fra Pacioli. Albeit ERP oriented accounting systems like SAP, Oracle Financial, etc. have reduced rudimentary tasks for book writing, human interventions continue to be a must for reviewing, monitoring, and reporting. SOPs for minimising certain operational and financial risks can be embedded while configuring ERPs, yet one can still not conclude with conviction that accounting has gone through digital transformation worth reckonable. Learn more from pdf >>>>>>