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Led by Fra Luca de Pacioli Simulacrum
Led by Fra Luca de Pacioli Simulacrum
The question
An orientation to what accounting is for, before any debits or credits. Pacioli Simulacrum walks through the four problems accounting solves (memory, control, measurement, trust) and why every commercial civilisation from Mesopotamian temples to modern London has needed it. The module distinguishes bookkeeping from accounting and management accounting from financial accounting, and identifies the stakeholders any particular set of accounts is serving. The closing exercise reads the books of a sole trader who has none.
Outcome
The student can articulate why accounting exists in their own words, name the four functions it serves, distinguish bookkeeping from accounting and management from financial accounting, and identify which stakeholders any particular set of accounts is serving. (Foundational orientation)
Practice scenarios
Your friend runs a small business — they make and sell ceramic homewares, mostly through markets and Etsy. Last year they took roughly £40,000 in revenue. They keep no accounting records. Receipts are in a shoebox; invoices are in their email; the business and personal accounts are mixed at the same bank. They have just been informed by HMRC that they are due to register for self-assessment, and a friend has suggested they will need to register for VAT soon. They have approached you because you've started studying accounting and they think you can help. Your job is *not* to do their books for them. Your job is to help them understand what they're missing and why.
Your goals