Money for which no receipt has been taken is not to be included in the accounts. Hammurabi (ca. 2000 B.C.)

Is it not as impossible that a Merchant should be prosperous in Trade without being a thorough-pac'd Accountant, and having all other Accomplishments suitable to the Nature of his great Employ, as that a Mariner should conduct a Ship to all Parts of the Globe without a Skill in Navigation? A merchant of London (ca. 1700)

The counting-house of an accomplished merchant is a school of method where the great science may be learned of ranging particulars under generals, of bringing the different parts of a transaction together, and of showing at one view a long series of dealing adn exchange. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)