Tutorial 4 26 August 2014 Name: James Surname: Gilbert Student Number: 201404266 Tutorial Group: 1 The Relevance of Accounting History as an Academic Discipline. People cannot predict the future by looking at the past, they cannot change the past by studying it extensively. So then, why is it that so many people do look back at what was? Is it to reminisce over lost times, or to ponder about a world so different to what is now? No, it is in fact to use what was observed and tried in the past to influence and correct the issues perceived today, and to better understand the present state of things by looking at what series of past events or circumstances have led to what is today. In terms of the accounting practice, it is this crucial information that allows people to continually improve and develop on ideas and practices because they know what does and does not work due to past experience. It is this that justifies accounting history as a crucially important academic discipline. “History, in itself is instinctive and indigenous to all of us” (Carnegie. et al, 2011), whether individuals know it or not, everyone’s decision making process is strongly based on past experiences, and the past is the key source resorted to whenever a decision is needed to be made. The same is applicable to accounting, the decisions made today in all practices and approaches are drawn from the historical developments in the accounting process, that have led the practice