Counting house

Last updated
Counting room of the Bank of North Dakota (1920) Counting-room of the Bank of North Dakota.jpg
Counting room of the Bank of North Dakota (1920)

A counting house, or counting room, was traditionally an office in which the financial books of a business were kept. [1] It was also the place that the business received appointments and correspondence relating to demands for payment. [2]

Originating in Italy, the counting house was a central feature of commerce in the high Middle Ages and afterward. Calculations were typically quantified through the use of a counting board where the process could be spectated by interested persons. [3] As technology developed and new practices emerged, particularly the adoption of Arabic numerals in financial record-keeping, use of the counting board became obsolete.

As the use of counting houses spread in the 19th century, so did their reputation as being often uncomfortable and dreary places to work. [4] This was most famously exemplified in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol , where the underpaid Bob Cratchit spends his days toiling.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Board of directors</span> Type of governing body for an organisation

A board of directors is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organization, or a government agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Actuary</span> Analyst of business risk and uncertainty

An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science which covers rigorous mathematical calculations in areas of life expectancy and life insurance. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset management, liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms.

The term pro forma is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to be performed perfunctorily or is considered a formality. The term is used in legal and business fields to refer to various types of documents that are generated as a matter of course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office</span> Room where administrative work is performed

An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. In the adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business-related tasks. In law, a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo, for example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair. An office is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home, entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in the Netherlands</span> Overview of the procedure of elections in the Netherlands

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 21 water boards and the 342 municipalities. Apart from elections, referendums were also held occasionally, but have been removed from the law in 2018. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATB Financial</span> Canadian financial institution

ATB Financial is a financial institution and Crown corporation wholly owned by the province of Alberta, the only province in Canada with such a financial institution under its exclusive ownership.

Net asset value (NAV) is the value of an entity's assets minus the value of its liabilities, often in relation to open-end, mutual funds, hedge funds, and venture capital funds. Shares of such funds registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are usually bought and redeemed at their net asset value. It is also a key figure with regard to hedge funds and venture capital funds when calculating the value of the underlying investments in these funds by investors. This may also be the same as the book value or the equity value of a business. Net asset value may represent the value of the total equity, or it may be divided by the number of shares outstanding held by investors, thereby representing the net asset value per share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmer School of Business</span> Business school of Miami University (Ohio)

The Farmer School of Business (FSB) is the business school at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, offering on-campus undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as online graduate programs. The school and the Department of Accountancy are accredited by AACSB International. The FSB places an emphasis on experiential learning, international study and leadership development to prepare students to become leaders in the workplace and the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindu–Arabic numeral system</span> Most common system for writing numbers

The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Indo-Arabic numeral system is a positional base ten numeral system for representing integers; its extension to non-integers is the decimal numeral system, which is presently the most common numeral system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989</span>

The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), is a United States federal law enacted in the wake of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Customs</span> Former customs department of the UK

HM Customs was the national Customs service of England until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use since the Middle Ages, referred both to the customs dues themselves and to the office of state established for their collection, assessment and administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heerlijkheid</span> Lowest administrative and judicial unit in Low Countries before 1800

A heerlijkheid was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking Low Countries before 1800. It originated as a unit of lordship under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. The English equivalents are manor, seigniory and lordship. The German equivalent is Herrschaft. The heerlijkheid system was the Dutch version of manorialism that prevailed in the Low Countries and was the precursor to the modern municipality system in the Netherlands and Flemish Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit card</span> Card for financial transactions from a line of credit

A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services or withdraw cash on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counting board</span> Early counting device

The counting board is the precursor of the abacus, and the earliest known form of a counting device. Counting boards were made of stone or wood, and the counting was done on the board with beads, pebbles etc. Not many boards survive because of the perishable materials used in their construction, or the impossibility to identify the object as a counting board.The counting board was invented to facilitate and streamline numerical calculations in ancient civilizations. Its inception addressed the need for a practical tool to perform arithmetic operations efficiently. By using counters or tokens on a board with designated sections, people could easily keep track of quantities, trade, and financial transactions. This invention not only enhanced accuracy but also fueled the development of more sophisticated mathematical concepts and systems throughout history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monroe County Courthouse (Indiana)</span> United States historic place

Monroe County Courthouse in Bloomington, Indiana is a Beaux Arts building built in 1908. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It is located in the Courthouse Square Historic District and is the seat of government for Monroe County, Indiana.

Arlington Beach is a hamlet in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located on the eastern shore of Last Mountain Lake, north-west of Regina. Listed as a designated place by Statistics Canada, the hamlet had a population of 39 in the Canada 2006 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garraway's Coffee House</span> London coffee house in Exchange Alley

Garraways Coffee House was a London coffee house in Exchange Alley from the period when such houses served as important places where other business was performed. Its original proprietor, Thomas Garway, was already said to be the first person in England to sell tea prior to the house's founding, and when he began to sell it here in 1657 it became the first place in England to do so. The Hudson's Bay Company conducted its first sale of furs at the coffee house in 1671.

The history of accounting or accountancy can be traced to ancient civilizations.

National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, 573 U.S. 513 (2014), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously ruled that the President of the United States cannot use his authority under the Recess Appointment Clause of the United States Constitution to appoint public officials unless the United States Senate is in recess and not able to transact Senate business. The Court held that the clause allows the president to make appointments during both intra-session and inter-session recesses but only if the recess is of sufficient length, and if the Senate is actually unavailable for deliberation, thereby limiting future recess appointments. The Court also ruled that any office vacancy can be filled during the recess, regardless of when it arose. The case arose out of President Barack Obama's appointments of Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn to the National Labor Relations Board and Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchant's House</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Merchant's House is a heritage-listed education centre and offices, that was formerly a residence, museum, offices and boarding house, located at 43–45 George Street in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Its design is attributed to John Bibb and was built during 1848. It is also known as Counting House (former) and Merchant's. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.

References

  1. Nelson, Richard (1902). Commercial and Counting-House Arithmetic. p. 205.
  2. Cross v. Smith,1M. & Selw., 545(KB13 May 1813)("The counting-house is the place where all appointments respecting the joint business, and all notices should be addressed, and it is the duty of the merchant to take care that a proper person be in attendance.").
  3. Oliver, Jack (1997). "Calculations in Medieval Europe". Mathematics in School. 26 (3): 12–14. ISSN   0305-7259.
  4. Anderson, Gregory (1976). Victorian Clerks.