The Case for Cameral Accounting

• Date: 01 February 2002
• Author: Norvald Monsen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0408.00145
• Published date: 01 February 2002

THE CASE FOR CAMERAL ACCOUNTING

Norvald Monsen*

INTRODUCTION

Tore JÖrgen Hanisch (1996) has published a collection of articles about

economics and history, and the first article is entitled Schweigaard og

gjennombruddet for norsk sosialÖkonomi, 1835^1870 (`Schweigaard and the

breakthrough of Norwegian political economy', 1835^1870). Here he points

out that Anton Martin Schweigaard (1808^1870) is considered to be the first

important Norwegian economist, but before Schweigaard Ludvig Holberg

(1684^1754) was the first in Denmark-Norway to show a lasting interest in

economically related questions. He continues:

Inthis matterhecame toplayan importantrole notonlythrough his ownauthorship,but

also throughh is legacyto and organising of SorÖ Academyhe laid the groundwork fora

flourishing of the interest in economic questions. Economics or `Oeconomie-,

Commerce and Cameral sciences' became here one of the five central subject areas (in

addition to history, mathematics, law and modern languages). In the period 1750^70

SorÖAcademy becamea hotbed of economicalacademical activities,and the only place

in Denmark-Norway,in addition to Kiel, withan academic position in economics.

The two persons who were in charge of the teaching of economics and the other

disciplines relatedto political scienceat SorÖ in this period, Jens SchielderupSneedorff

(172 4 ^64) and Andreas Schytte (1726^77), were particularly influenced by German

cameralistics,which was a kind of economicpolicy of the state with itsroots in mercantile

economics. Schytte even published a textbook in the `cameral science', as a part of a

voluminouswork about the`States'Internal Governance', most likely the first textbook

in economics in Denmark-Norway.This textbooktradition in the spi ritof mercantilism

was carried on in Kiel byJohan Christian Fabricious (1745^1808), who was there a

professorof naturalhistory,economics andcameral science(Hanisch,1996, p.16; translated

from Norwegian,italics added).

From this excerpt we see that German cameralistics early played an important

role within economical thinking. In an article on cameralistics, Oettle (1990)

expresses this importance as follows:

Cameralistics in this sense was the economic policy of the mercantile state which was

once the principal driving force of socio-economic development. The cameral sciences

which studiedthese practices werethe precursors of business administration as well as

Financial Accountability & Management, 18(1), February2002, 0267-4424

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* The author is from the Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law, Norwegian School of

Economicsand Business Administration. He would like to thank Irvine Lapsley, and one anonymous

referee for their penetratingc omments,which greatly helpedto clarif y the thrust of the argumentin

the article.

Address for correspondence:Norvald Monsen, NHH,Helleveien 30, N-5045Bergen, Norway.

e-mail: Norvald.Monsen@NHH.NO

public finance. Practical as well as scientific cameralist thought has therefore great

historical importance; this is in stark contrast to the contemptuous overtones which

cameralist methods (i.e., administrativepractice) evoke in the currentlypredominant

use of the term. This negative evaluation has also coloured the other two meanings

(i.e., bookkeeping methodand budgeting/bookkeepingsystem) of cameralistics which

are limited to accounting (Oettle,1990,p. 346).

Oettle here poi nts out that the increasing n egative attitude to camera listics

as an economic mercantile thought for the public sector, has spread to the

attitude towards cameralistics as a bookkeeping method and as a budgeting/

accounting sy stem for use in the publi c sector. Therefore, t here is every reason

for studying cameralistics more thoroughly based on an accounting and

budgeting perspective, so it is possible to form an opinion about cameral

accounting ba sed upon a separate and relevan tb asis, and not only indirectl y

via the thought o f economics.

Today we find an international trend towards the introduction of

commercial (full accrual or resource) accounting in the public sector (see

e.g., Monsen an d NÌsi, 1999; and Oett le, 1990). In fact, the p reparation of this

type of information has been dealt with within the framework of cameral

accounting fr om about 1910 (see the se ction `Historical D evelopment' belo w),

but cameral accounting experiences do not play a part in the current

international debate about public sector accounting. Hence, a study of

cameral accounting is not only of interest from a theoretical and historical

accounting perspective, it is also at the core of the current debate about the

introductio n of commercial accounti ng in the public sector.

The German Erns t Walb, who incidentall yw as the first teacher in bus iness

administration at a Scandinavian university (NorstrÖm, 1995), has written

one of the classical books about cameral accounting entitled Die Erfolgs-

rechnung privater und Îffentlicher Betriebe (1926) (`Performance Result

Accounting fo r Private and Public Orga nisations'). Here he sta tes:

As Lichtnegel in his book entitled `The historical development of the Austrian

accounting and control system' states, the expression cameralistics originates from

valaqa, which is the term used for the covered wagons which the warriors used to pull

after themselves withtheir war money.This expression was also used about avault and

about everything that had a roof with a vault above itself. Thus, the Latin word

`camara' or `camera' in the ninth century denotedthe place where the master stored

his treasures, and the German expression `Kammer' in this connection denoted the

room where those persons, whowere responsible for administering the revenues, used

to assemble.The expression cameralistics and cameral accounting is for that reason

since the earliest time closely linked both to money and revenue and their

administration (Walb,1926,p. 210; translatedfrom German).

In summary, it can be stated that cameral accounting has played an

important historical role in the public sector. The purpose of this article is

therefore first to present a brief overview of the historical development of

cameral accounting, and thereafter to present the cameral bookkeeping

method in more detail. Hopefully, this study of cameral accounting can be

40 MONSEN

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used as an input in t he continuous debate abo ut how to control public mon ey,

including the current international debate about the introduction of

commercial ac counting in the public se ctor.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPME NT

Ernst Walb (192 6) points out that the d evelopment of came ral accounting can

be divided into four different phases. In general terms, he argues that in

practice the de velopment of cameral acco unting parallels that of co mmercial

accounting (see also Oettle, 1990) . It was devised as an internal auditing aid

for royal financial administration (property administration, treasury

administrat ion) which originally c onsisted of varying and n ot very systematic

continuous cash moveable holdings (continuous updating, chain entries,

entries in stoc k records).

First Phase (ca. 1 500^1750)

Simple Cameral Bookkeeping

According to Walb (1926, p. 211) the simple cameral bookkeeping method

(administrative cameralistics) consists of showing balance sheet changes for

money and moveable property and possibly also an overview of fixed

property, as wel l as a grouping of the revenues an d expenditures according t o

their sources . According to Wysocki (19 65) one has presumably be en satisfied

with showing the money revenues and money expenditures in a daybook,

where the reven ues and expenditures were re ported chronologically , without

taking into account their different characters. According to Johns (1951) it

was possible gradually to extend this chronological bookkeeping in the

daybook to a systematic bookkeeping in the ledger. Attempts to introduce

commercial accounting also in the public sector, however, failed (Wysocki,

1965, p. 13). In th is connection, Walb (192 6) points out:

The introduction of commercial accounting in the total public sector was only an

intermezzo. It had to fail, because one had not shown sufficient consideration for the

special demands,which the state sector makeson an accounting system. Onecould not

remove the disparities totally in the way that had been chosen; rather one had to

developthe ex isting accounting system (Walb,1926, p. 215; translated from German).

Second Phase (ca . 1750^1810)

Introductionof Current Due Accounting

The development of the governmental accounting system is according to

Walb (1926) closely connected to the name of the Austrian court adviser

THE CASE FOR CAMERAL ACC OUNTING 41

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