t, Greece, and Rome on the other hand were similar in some aspects but different in others. Accounting in ancient Egypt developed in a fashion similar to the Mesopotamians. The use of papyrus over clay tablets allowed more detailed records to be made more easily. Also extensive records were kept, particularly for the network of royal storehouses within which the "in kind" tax payments were kept. Egyptian bookkeepers attached to each storehouse kept careful records, checked by a complex internal verification system. These early accountants had good reason to be honest and accurate, because irregularities disclosed by royal audits were punishable by fine, injury or death. Although such records were important, ancient Egyptian accounting never progressed beyond simple list making in its thousands of years of existence. Perhaps more than any other factors, illiteracy and the lack of coined money appear to have stymied its development. Greece in the fifth century B.C. used "public accountants" to allow its public to maintain real authority and control over their government's finances. Members of the Athens popular assembly legislated on financial matters and controlled receipt and expenditure of public monies through the oversight of ten state accountants, chosen by lot. Perhaps the most important Greek contribution to accountancy was its introduction of coined money about 600 B.C. Widespread use of coinage took time, as did its impact on the evolution of accounting. Banking in ancient Greece appears to have been more developed than in prior societies. Bankers kept account books, changed and loaned money and even arranged for cash transfers for citizens through affiliate banks in distant cities.Government and banking accounts in ancient Rome evolved from records traditionally kept by the heads of families, in which daily entry of household receipts and payments were kept in an adversaria or daybook and monthly postings to a cashbo...
