The Accountant Who Changed the World

The birth of accounting rocked the world 500 years ago. In the 1400s, much of Europe was still using Roman numerals and finding it really hard to easily add or subtract. Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) started catching on and' with those numbers, merchants in Venice developed a revolutionary system we now call “double-entry” bookkeeping.

Every transaction gets entered twice in financial records. If one day, you sold three gold coins' worth of pepper, you would write that the amount of cash you had went up by three gold coins. You would also write in that the amount of pepper you had went down by three gold coins' worth. Before double-entry, people just kept diaries and counted their money at the end of the day. This innovation allowed merchants to see every aspect of their business in neat little rows.

Luca Pacioli was a monk, magician and lover of numbers. He discovered this bookkeeping in Venice. In 1494, he wrote a huge math encyclopedia and included an instructional section on double-entry bookkeeping. Thanks to the new printing press, his book was mass produced and became a hit. One of the first readers was Leonardo da Vinci, who at the time was painting The Last Supper. Pacioli’s encyclopedia covered the mathematics of perspective painting which fascinated da Vinci.

Read the article “The Accountant Who Changed the World” and listen to the full story (about 5 minutes) at NPR online.
 

Titanic Tragedy Remembered - 1912-2012

April 14, 2012, marks the centennial since the HMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Everything about the Titanic and its journey was big. Its biggest promise — one few stopped to question — was that it was an unsinkable ship.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton, England, to travel west across the Atlantic Ocean and reach New York City on the other side. It carried 2,435 passengers and 892 crew members. But arrogance on the part of the White Star Line and lax maritime safety regulations of the time, ensured most on board never reached the US. To add deck space, designers of the ship had a second row of lifeboats removed. That left only 20 lifeboats — not nearly enough for all who were on board.

When the ship struck an iceberg 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland and sank, its once awe-inspiring size and capacity became a hindrance. Women, children and some men were ushered into lifeboats that had no hope of holding every person on the ship. More than 1,700 people were still on the Titanic when it broke apart and slipped into the frigid North Atlantic. Anyone who fell into the water would have died within minutes because of hypothermia.

When the news reached Europe and North America — that the mammoth unsinkable ship had indeed sunk — the headlines in newspaper were big too. An estimated 700 people survived but more than 1,500 died. Titanic photographs still haunt 100 years after disaster.

How did the Titanic sink? According to an article in the National Post, experts who have advised both National Geographic and the History Channel for their 100-year anniversary documentary programs offer their views. The following represents the best estimations science and history can currently make as to what happened in the moments immediately before and after the Titanic disappeared beneath the surface.

As the world remembers the tragedy of the Titanic, CBC News looks back at some of the stories and legends of the doomed ocean liner. From the ship's comforts and luxuries to the personalities on board, there is no shortage of anecdotes and details about the Titanic. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has a permanent connection to the sinking of Titanic. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary, visitors can see many exhibits, programs and special events.

Encyclopaedia Britannica ends print edition after 244 years

The 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica has been discontinued. The first edition, a three-volume set, was printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768. Now, after 244 years in print, the encyclopedia will live on and grow in the myriad digital forms which have been popular with millions for years. In announcing the end of the print set, on March 14, 2012, the company stressed the wide diversity of its product line today, which includes not just reference works but curriculum and learning solutions used in schools around the world.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica began exploring digital publishing in the 1970s, and created its first digital version, likely the first digital encyclopedia ever, for LexisNexis users in 1981. That lengthy history of online information may come as a surprise to many. As the company switches off the presses, it faces new forms of competition, notably Wikipedia, which also contains a history of the company dating from 1768 to the present.

For more information, watch the YouTube videos “Totally Digital: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Now” and “End of an era for Encyclopedia Britannica video - CNET TV.” Also, see the FoxNews article “After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica ends sale of print edition” and read the Vancouver Sun article “Stop the presses: Encyclopaedia Britannica ends its print publication”

Information to be included in the Annual Report to Shareholders – 1991 Research Study updated 2008

In 1991, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) published a landmark research study called Information to be included in the Annual Report to Shareholders. This 317-page study was drafted by J. Paul-Emile Roy, CA under the direction of a seven-member Study Group chaired by Gerald Trites, FCA.

The Foreword to this study states: “The annual report has long been used by an enterprise as a primary vehicle of communication, not only with its investors or members, but also with other audiences who, for a variety of reasons, have a legitimate interest in the affairs and operations of the enterprise. Generally, the annual report contains the financial statements and associated notes. It also contains additional information which both elaborates upon the financial condition and operating results of the enterprise and provides non-financial information of interest and value to its audiences.”

It further notes: “To date, accounting and auditing standards have concentrated on the financial statements. They have paid relatively little attention to information outside the financial statements, which, to a large extent, has been regarded as the domain of the enterprise’s management. It is considered, in many circles, that a greater amount of discussion and analysis of the financial information needs to be provided than that currently contained in notes to the financial statements. This has resulted in a greater scrutiny being given to such matters, particularly by regulators such as the securities commissions.”

In addition, it states that “some concern has been expressed about the general quality of annual reports, which varies significantly among enterprises. It has been noted that the annual report has the potential of being "a shining affirmation of the company’s scope, strength, philosophy and aspirations"; on the other hand, "it can be dismal, ineffectual and boring - a wonderful opportunity lost".”

To address these matters, the CICA Accounting Standards Committee was prompted, in May 1989, to commission a research study to discuss the objectives of the annual report to shareholders and to recommend what information should be provided, beyond that which must be presented in the financial statements, to assist in achieving those objectives. Besides addressing information content, the study considers the form and presentation of information, reviews the concept of effective communication and considers annual reporting formats, summary reporting, graphics and other presentation matters.

It is noteworthy that this research study was updated and re-published by the CICA in 2008, under the title Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders (also refer to the August 25, 2008 blog posting). The updated study was prepared by J. Paul-Emile Roy, CA (author of the 1991 study) under the direction of a seven-member Study Group chaired by Gerald Trites, FCA (chair of the 1991 Study Group). It aims to promote effective communication between a company and its stakeholders by providing useful guidance to preparers of corporate reports. It is based on an in-depth review of the annual reports and websites of 125 companies that participated in the ongoing CICA Corporate Reporting Awards program. In addition, this study examines practices and significant trends in corporate reporting by analyzing:

·       more than 50 different types of information disclosed in 2004-2005 annual reports;

·       major changes in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 annual reports of award-winning companies;

·       information content, presentation and navigation on company websites in 2007.

Update on the Social Science Research Network

The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) has grown substantially during the last 12 months. The SSRN eLibrary currently has 375,000 paper abstracts from over 175,000 authors and has received 60,000 new submissions during the year. The eLibrary recently delivered its 50 millionth full-text paper download. This is a significant milestone.

During the last year, SSRN changed its server architecture to improve the speed of searches, enhance overall stability and provide the infrastructure required to meet the continued growth. In recent tests, the average eLibrary search time has decreased from 4.5 seconds to less than 1 second. In addition, SSRN's Citereader project with ITX Corp. has extracted 7.4 million references, 4.7 million citations, and 7.7 million footnotes from 306,000 full text papers.

In 2012, SSRN plans to continue expanding its interdisciplinary growth in the social sciences and humanities by creating research networks in Sustainability, Innovation, Rhetoric, Anthropology and Hebrew.