A brief history of accounting for the translation of foreign currencies

Abstract

Problems in accounting for the translation of foreign currencies are as old as money itself, as far back as the ancient Greeks. In the USA these problems have been of primary concern in the twentieth century. Interest in accounting for foreign currency translation seems to have varied directly with the instability of exchange. Of particular note is the interest created by the unsettling economic effects of the First World War, Second World War and the Vietnam War. The standard setting bodies of the accounting profession, including the Committee on Accounting Procedures of the 1930s, the Accounting Principles Board which followed, and particularly the current Financial Accounting Standards Board, have devoted significant efforts to the development of accounting principles in this area, culminating in the present FASB Statement No. 52.

Citation

Jackson, T. and Cook, D.M. (1998), "A brief history of accounting for the translation of foreign currencies", Journal of Management History (Archive), Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 137-144. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552529810219610