Accounting on Czech Noble Estates during the Agricultural Revolution

Abstract

The paper follows Edwards’ (2011) findings published in the Accounting Historians Journal concerning the persistence of a simpler style of bookkeeping in practice instead of double-entry accounting, even in the period of growth of the capitalist mode of economy. The article supports the conclusion about the use of accounting for managerial purposes by examining the content of treatises written by members of the Puteani family, who fundamentally influenced accounting on noble estates in the Czech Lands during the agricultural revolution (late 1700s–1870s). The paper describes the structure and essence of cameralist accounting, which replaced the older bookkeeping style and was preferred over double-entry accounting by landowners. It demonstrates that cameralist accounting became an integrated part of the reforms applied at Czech noble estates during the agriculture revolution due to its objectives, which fully corresponded with the purposes of the owners for the management and development of their estates. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: N83; N13; M41; O16.