Amatino Manucci was an Italian merchant based in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, France in the late 13th century, whose work includes the earliest extant accounting of

double-entry bookkeeping Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a ...

, although he is not credited for inventing this accounting technique. Manucci kept the accounts for Giovanni Farolfi & Company, a merchant partnership based in

, France. Manucci was a partner for the Salon, South of France branch. The writing, entirely in Manucci's hand, is neat, legible, and mostly well-preserved. Financial records from 1299—1300 survive that he kept for the firm's branch in Salon, Provence. Although these records are incomplete, they show enough detail to be identified as double-entry bookkeeping. These details include the use of

debits and credits Debits and credits in double-entry bookkeeping are entries made in account ledgers to record changes in value resulting from business transactions. A debit entry in an account represents a transfer of value ''to'' that account, and a cred ...

and duality of entries. "No more is known of Amatino Manucci, than this ledger that he kept."

References

Italian accountants 13th-century Italian people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{accounting-stub