The subject of accounting is as old as time. Accounting is thousands of years old and can be traced to ancient civilizations. The early development of accounting can be found in ancient Mesopotamia, Iran, Egyptians, Babylonians, and the Roman Empire. The first book on a double-entry system was written by an Italian mathematician Fra Luca Pacioli and his close friend Leonardo da Vinci. It was published in Venice in 1494. Before Pacioli’s contribution, some form of the double-entry system was already in practice. No one exactly knows when and how it was invented. Pacioli and da Vinci did not claim to be the inventors of the double-entry system but they explored how the concepts could be used in a more efficient and organized way. By the time double-entry bookkeeping spread throughout Europe and become the foundation of modern accounting.
Before the double-entry bookkeeping system in India, Desi Nama or Vahi Paddhati is the traditional accounting system developed and used in the Indian subcontinent, the Desi Nama system was written in regional languages. Despite being very old, the system is a scientific and complete method. It is very easy to write and understand accounts by the Deshi Nama system. But to make uniformity with the international accounting standards we have adopted the double-entry system.
In the colonization period, the Britishers require accountants and clerks who can manage understand and write books of accounts in the dual entries so they have trained the Indians according to their accounting system. They started to train Indian accountants and students with modern accounting aspects. Our accounting system was influenced by the British rule for 200 years. As a subject, accounting has traditionally been taught in our country as one of the core papers in the commerce curriculum. Commerce education in an organized fashion began in India sometime in 1886 when the first commerce school was set up in Madras by the Trustees of Pachiappa’s Charities.
After the independence on the recommendation made by the Expert Committee, on 1st May 1949, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) was reorganized and recognized as an autonomous body. The institute was entrusted with the task of development of the accounting profession in India and building up qualified professional accountants Similarly for the cost accounting in India Estimates Committee recommended an autonomous institute in line with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. In 1958, the Government decided to regulate the cost accounting profession by statutory measures. Finally, the Cost and Works Accountants Act was passed in Parliament in 1959 and according to the provisions of the Act, the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) was set up in the same year. The CWA Amendment bill, 2011 was passed by both the Houses of Indian Parliament on 12 December 2011 and assented by the Honorable President of India on 12 January 2012. The changes were published in the Official Gazette of India on 13 January 2012. As a part of the name change movement of the Institute, ICMAI abbreviation is used on formal documents. The official domain of institute is also ICMAI.in.
Civil services of India related to Accounts
| 1. Indian Civil Accounts Service | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Civil_Accounts_Service |
| 2. Indian Audit and Accounts Service | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Audit_and_Accounts_Service |
| 3. Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Post_%26_Telecommunication_Accounts_and_Finance_Service |
| 4. Indian Railway Accounts Service | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railway_Accounts_Service |
| 5. Indian Defence Accounts Service | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Defence_Accounts_Service |
Gujarat state civil services related to Accounts
| Gujarat accounts services |
| Gujarat commercial tax service |
| Gujarat Education services for the subjects of commerce and Accounts |