1、 1 中文 3020 字 本科毕业论文（设计） 外 文 翻 译 题 目 专 业 会 计 学 外文题目 A Brief History of Accounting for the Translation of Foreign Currencies 外文出处 Journal of Management History 外文作者 Todd Jackson, Doris M. Cook 原文 ： A Brief History of Accounting for the Translation of Foreign Currencies Accounting for the translation o
2、f foreign currency is a topic that has received a great deal of attention from the various accounting standard-setting bodies this century. The attention given to this topic is a natural result of the phenomenal increase in international trade that has taken place. Trade among enterprises domiciled
3、in different countries can be traced back to ancient times. The Phoenicians are remembered as the great barterers of the ancient world. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, enterprising individuals saw that the establishment of foreign branches could facilitate international trade. The importa
4、nce of international commerce to the economic well-being of nations has increased ever since. Accounting for foreign operations and transactions has taken many forms throughout history. This paper primarily discusses the evolution of accounting for 2 foreign currency translation in the USA in the tw
5、entieth century. However, some of the evidence of foreign currency accounting practices from the ancient Greeks to the colonial Americans are discussed first. Some early foreign currency accounting practices The existence of foreign currency transactions can be traced back to the earliest civilizati
6、on known to have used coined money, the ancient Greeks. The invention of coined money is believed to have taken place in this civilization about bc 630 (Chatfield, 1977, p. 21). Although the use of coinage spread rather slowly, in time a number of the Greek city-states issued their own coins. These
7、Greek city-states engaged in trade with each other, thus resulting in essentially foreign currency transactions. The ancient Greeks often translated to the local coinage transactions denominated in a foreign coinage, but this treatment was not consistent (Littleton and Yamey, 1956, p. 21). They also
8、 were inclined to record quantities of commodities and units of a foreign currency in the accounts. During the middle ages (400 to 1400 ad), international trade expanded significantly as a result of the crusades which stimulated European demand for foreign goods. Toward the end of this period foreig
9、n trade had become quite prevalent and the establishment of foreign business branches was a natural result. In the Datini Archives is a balance sheet for the Barcelona branch dated January 31, 1399, and an income statement covering the period from 11 July 1397 to 31 January 1399. The income statemen
10、t is interesting because it contains an account entitled Pro di Cambio (Profits on foreign exchange (Littleton and Yamey, 1956, p. 145). The Barcelona branch kept the accounts with the foreign correspondents, the Nostro accounts, in terms of both the foreign currencies and the local currency. At a p
11、oint in time, the exchange profit or loss was calculated by taking the difference between the balances stated in the foreign currencies and the balances stated in the local currency (Littleton and Yamey, 1956, p. 145). 3 A similar accounting technique was used by colonial American merchants during t
12、he 15 years between 1795 and 1810 when businesses were making the transition from English pounds to US dollars. The accounts of these merchants were often kept in terms of both currencies (Littleton and Yamey, 1956, p. 287). Early twentieth century foreign currency accounting A 1900 textbook by Geor
13、ge Lisle, an English chartered accountant, describes accounting for foreign currencies at that time in England (Lisle, 1900). Lisle wrote that domestic companies that have branches in foreign countries “should convert the transactions which take place in the various local currencies into pounds ster
14、ling on a correct basis, with the view of these transactions being recorded in the Home Book and being submitted in the Annual Abstract of Accounts to the proprietors of the business” (Lisle, 1900, p . 285). He noted that a number of erroneous principles were being used by companies at that time for
15、 converting their foreign transactions. According to Lisle, when the trial balance of a foreign branch is sent home, the first thing to be done is to convert each item to pounds sterling (Lisle, 1900, p. 288). He stated that various exchange rates should be used to translate the items in the trial b
16、alance. He essentially advocated what later came to be known as the monetary-nonmonetary method. The impact of the First World War on foreign currency accounting Before the First World War, exchange rates were fairly stable and the volume of trade between USA and European nations was not so great as
17、 to make the topic of foreign currency translation a major issue in the USA. A number of accounting texts were written after Lisles which contain no discussion on the topic. The stability of exchange rates prior to the First World War can be attributed largely to the fact that most nations had established a fixed relationship between their currencies and the gold standard (Roberts, 1920, p. 321).
