PUBLIC RULES FOR PRIVATE ACCOUNTING IN FRANCE, 1673 AND 1807.

This article presents information on public rules for private accounting in France in 1673 and 1807. As per the rules of Ordinance of 1673 some designated classes of `business men were required to "keep books." Public regulation, "on paper" at least, extended to the making of rules as to the books to be kept, forms to be observed in the making of entries, authentication by a public official as a means to the prevention of the crudest kind of falsifications, the making of periodic inventories, and the preservation of correspondence. The rules for authentication of the books of exchange dealers and bankers pear a little more strict than those for the authentication of the books of tradesmen and merchants. However as per the accounting rules of commercial code 1807 every business man was required to have a journal which presents day by day his accounts receivable and payable, the operations of his business, acceptances and endorsements of commercial paper, and in general everything which he receives and pays, under whatever head it may be.