The Perils of Poor Bookkeeping
A stern warning from the 1876 Seattle business community on the dangers of sloppy accounting and the virtues of labor.
The celebrated Dr. Johnson said, 'Let no man enter into business while he is ignorant of the manner of regulating books; never let him imagine that any degree of natural ability will supply the deficiency or preserve the multiplicity of affairs from inextricable confusion.' This is sound advice, and should be heeded by all young men contemplating a business career. Among houses conducting the more extensive and complicated operations of commerce, irregularity in the management of their accounts is now becoming a rare occurrence. But this is far from being the case among the middle and smaller class of dealers and mechanics. The frequent failures among them often discloses the most culpable ignorance and negligence in the management of their accounts. It is the first and most obvious duty of every dealer and trader, small and great, to keep a concise and methodical account of his transactions. Every young man should remember that his value in the commercial world will depend upon his qualifications as a businessman, and early in life prepare himself by a thorough course of instruction on the duties of the counting house.
“Let no man enter into business while he is ignorant of the manner of regulating books; never let him imagine that any degree of natural ability will supply the deficiency.”
In an era of high-tech accounting software, the fundamental anxiety remains: small business success often hangs by the thread of financial literacy. Much like the 1876 editorial's warning to Seattle’s 'middle and smaller class of dealers,' today’s independent business owners still struggle with the unforgiving administrative overhead that separates survival from failure in a competitive market.
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