The field of accounting owes much to a 15th century Venetian monk, educator, and great friend of Leonardo da Vinci: Fra Luca Pacioli.
Pacioli was born in 1445 in Sansepolcro, Italy. A dedicated Franciscan, he showed a passion for mathematics, and in 1494 published a treatise entitled
Summa de Arithmetica, Geometrica, Proportionalita, better known as the Summa.
The Summa detailed much of the knowledge and writings about mathematics in Pacioli's day. However, one chapter of the book was devoted to methods of recording merchant transactions, including ideas about double-entry bookkeeping. It is because of this work that Pacioli is known as the father of accounting.
Pacioli, working with his friend Leonardo, also published a translation of Euclid's Elements in 1509. He died in 1520 in the same town in which he was born.
Though accounting has undergone many changes over the centuries--from variations in recording to the technology it is performed with--the basics that Fra Luca Pacioli laid down more than 500 years ago still remain applicable today.