LUCA PACIOLI (1446/7–1517): THE FATHER OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

Luca Pacioli, an Italian Franciscan brother, maestro of the abacus (commercial mathematics), professor at several Italian universities, was the first author of a printed text on accounting. He has contributed to society in various fields such as art, architecture, mathematics, statistics, calligraphy and business, being considered an authentic Renaissance Man. His trajectory of life was marked by the notoriety of his book published in Venice in 1494, Summa de Arithmetica, Geometría, Proportioni et Proportionalita (Encyclopedia of Arithmetic, Geometry, Proportion and Proportionality),which in its content contains a small treatise, Particularis de Computis et Scripturis (About Accounts and Bookkeeping) which contributed to the dissemination of accounting. With the elaboration of this article, we intend to clarify and demonstrate the importance of Luca Pacioli for the accounting profession.