This article continues a series concerning the impact of AI on Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and, by extension, the profession as a whole. The seminal installment in this serial establishes that technological disruptions are nothing new to AIS. On the contrary, the double-entry method itself was a technology, as was the Arabic numeral system on which Pacioli built it. This series carries an implicit invitation to consider a particular perspective: accept that AI will disrupt AIS, but don’t catastrophize that which you cannot predict. Easier said than done. More historical perspective might make the doing a bit easier.
Is this a long-winded and dry way of saying, as a better man put it, “be not afraid”? Probably. Accountants are known to be both dry and verbose.
Consider this timeline stretching from the advent of accounting as we know it to the mid-twentieth century.
Did you expect the Gutenberg press to make an appearance in such a timeline? The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440 enabled the mass production of books and documents. The dissemination of Pacioli’s “Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalità” was accelerated, allowing for widespread adoption and standardization of accounting practices. While we may take the disbursement and broadcast of information for granted these days, we should make no mistake about how extensively the printing press increased access to accounting knowledge.
Pacioli’s friendship and collaboration with another technology enthusiast accelerated demand for these methods. Leonardo da Vinci, who illustrated parts of “Summa,” helped popularize the book. Leonardo’s involvement lent the work additional prestige and helped it reach a broader audience, including other scholars and practitioners.
In Venice, a major trading hub during the Renaissance, merchants who embraced Pacioli’s methods were able to keep more accurate records of their extensive trade dealings. This accuracy was essential for managing the complex web of credit and debt that characterized Venetian commerce. Surviving financial records from the period show a marked improvement in the organization and accuracy of accounts maintained using double-entry bookkeeping compared to earlier methods. These records helped historians understand the economic conditions and business practices of the time.
Yet, the stalwart merchants who clung to their prior methods (can we say, legacy systems?) would not have appreciated the benefits of Pacioli’s technology. They might have regarded the strange conventions with suspicion. They might have viewed the success of those reaping the benefits through the lens of resentment and protest. From our vantage point, as we square off against the latest technology to enter our combat ring, we can hardly blame them.
But technology is an intrinsic part of AIS. It’s incumbent upon CPAs to keep this in mind and set a proper example for those feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of AI. The historical context underscores a fundamental truth: while the tools may change, the principles of sound accounting endure.
So much change. And we’ve only explored through the 15th century!
To be continued.
