How does the authors classify the stages in accounting development?

Describe and
differentiate each one of them.
The author classify the stages in accounting development into four stages : Pre-CapitaHst
period (4000BC-1000 AD), Commercial Capitalism (1000-1750), Industrial Capitalism (17601830), and Financial Capitalism (1830 to date).
Stages in
Accounting
Development
Pre-CapitaHst
period, 4000BC1000AD

Commercial
Capitalism, 10001750 AD

Industrial
Capitalism, 17601830 AD

Financial

Description

This period started with Mesopotamian Civilization and ended through

Greek and Roman era to the period of the dark ages. The need for
record keeping initially restricted from the extensive trade of
Mesopotamian valleys. However, the records naturally developed into a
form that was appropriated to the illiterate community and being adapted
to changes as the society became more sophisticated. With the
improvement of recordings on the papyrus and paper, the basic profit
calculation were made from the records of goods and cash.
The features of this period is that wealth tended to accrue to the people
who held religions, military and political power or status. Besides, the
era is non-economy period and the account is mainly kept for public
work by government,army pay sheet and so on.
During this period, investment was active as money was invested in
stock-in-trade and the proceeds were used to acquire more stock when
sold for cash was regarded as the core of this period. However, little was
invested on fixed assets. Between 1000-1300 AD, business social and
activities' and politics were improved due to the new social and
economic order such as itinerant merchants and trade fairs began to take
shape in Britain. With the commercial capitalism in fourteenth century,
capitalists made profits which mainly from the transportation of goods.
With the rapid changing of commercial environment, it led from single
system of accounting to book keeping.
Britain experienced Industrial Revolution when the production of high
quality iron ore was evolved and new potential for industrial use was
invented in this period. In addition, the use of machines in manufacturing
and the development of the factory system marked the emergence of this
period. The industrialists used double entry system because it proved
better for control purposes and it also facilitated the preparation of final
accounts, which could be use for better resource allocation decision and
evaluation of performance.
The emergence of this stage was dated from 1830 when the capital

Capitalism, 1830
AD to Date

project such as Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened and

attracted the capital market where securities can be traded. Due to the
large scale of commercial activities, financial data were required under
an unprecedented scale to ensure the planned project was doing well.
These data development gave particular emphasis to a wide range of
accounting problems and gradually they became more broadly based. As
the result, accountancy became high demand and professional bodies
started to spring up by bringing in the double entry book keeping system
to record in practice. The single system was replaced by double entry
system due to industrial evolution, as more sophisticated financial
information was called for.