This compilation concerns account books, not books on accounting. Most of the essays analyse the account book(s) of a single person or business. In each case the account book(s) demonstrate the presence of, at least, elements of double entry. The essays come in pairs, beginning with Geoffrey Lee's paper on Florentine bank ledger fragments of 1211, some of the earliest relics of Italian bookkeeping. Subsequent papers trace the development of double entry over the centuries until 1786 when full double entry was achieved. There are papers from the UK and USA which illustrate the use of balance sheets, valuation techniques and the accruals convention as well as papers which analyse the causes of the development of double entry, using the evidence of others.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and the possibility of global accounting harmonization, have recently gained enormously in importance, both practically and from an academic and research perspective. Since 2005, European and Australian listed enterprises are required to use IFRS for Consolidated Financial Statements. Other countries - from New Zealand to China - are actively moving towards these standards. And now, the IFRS Board and the American Regulatory System are publicly committed to a convergence programme. This major work, edited by two leading experts in the field, is a timely appraisal of academic and regulatory work in relation to this whole process. These important volumes bring together - otherwise inaccessible - early material which is vital to the understanding of the historical perspective, both in terms of the current situation and of future developments. International Financial Reporting Standards provides a broad overview, in addition to detailed coverage, of this important and fascinating topic, including a discussion of the processes of change and developments which have led from a widely disparate starting position to the current situation. The four volumes are fully indexed and each includes an informative, contextual introduction by the editors.

This compilation concerns account books, not books on accounting. Most of the essays analyse the account book(s) of a single person or business. In each case the account book(s) demonstrate the presence of, at least, elements of double entry. The essays come in pairs, beginning with Geoffrey Lee's paper on Florentine bank ledger fragments of 1211, some of the earliest relics of Italian bookkeeping. Subsequent papers trace the development of double entry over the centuries until 1786 when full double entry was achieved. There are papers from the UK and USA which illustrate the use of balance sheets, valuation techniques and the accruals convention as well as papers which analyse the causes of the development of double entry, using the evidence of others.