IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijcrac/v12y2021i4p279-293.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

T-account as a device of rhetoric - positive and negative numbers in double-entry bookkeeping

Author

Listed:
  • Masaya Fujita

Abstract

In an accounting procedure, using the negative numbers when computing profit/loss cannot be avoided. Accounting cannot avoid plus and minus. For example, supposing a profit is thought of as positive, then a loss will be regarded as negative. Assuming that assets are thought of as positive, then it is reasonable to presume that liabilities are regarded as negative. However, we have never seen negative numbers in any account books from their birth to now. The reason is because it was difficult for medieval Italian merchants to recognise the negative number directly. Rather, they recognised it by making use of rhetoric. The T-account has functioned as a rhetorical device.

Suggested Citation

  • Masaya Fujita, 2021. "T-account as a device of rhetoric - positive and negative numbers in double-entry bookkeeping," International Journal of Critical Accounting, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(4), pages 279-293.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijcrac:v:12:y:2021:i:4:p:279-293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=118333
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ids:ijcrac:v:12:y:2021:i:4:p:279-293. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=328 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.