Özet:

The aim of this paper is to examine the first application process of the double-entry bookkeeping method in the second half of the 19th century in Turkey and to demonstrate how the said application won recognition and became widespread. This paper also aims to determine how the double-entry bookkeeping method was adopted by the state and re- placed the stairs method, which had been applied until then in state accounting. The study was conducted by examining the accounting records and financial statements of the Ottoman Bank in the 19th century, and the documents in the archive in Istanbul where the accounting records and the financial statements are stored, were used as well as research on the Ottoman Bank. The research covers the time period beginning with the establishment of the Bank and extending until the early 19th century during when the double-entry bookkeeping method began to become widespread in Turkey. The findings attest to the fact that the Ottoman Bank pioneered in the modernization of bank- ing and contributed to the adoption of the double-entry bookkeeping method in Turkey in the said time period. The Bank was established under the name Ottoman Bank and was re- named Banque Imperiale Ottomane (Imperial Ottoman Bank) in 1863 and changed back again to Ottoman Bank in the Republican Era. These changes of name were the result of the Ottoman Empire’s use of its right to issue, and the fact that French and Turkish owners of capital were among the sharers of the Bank. The partnership with French capi- tal and the influence of the French culture in Turkey led to the keeping of financial records in French. While applying the double-entry bookkeeping method, the Bank also introduced Turkey to the most developed accounting understanding of the time. It is observed that the Bank had a developed cash recording system in addition to the day book and the ledger and supported the fi- nancial system with many auxiliary books used in the detailed monitor- ing of the receivables and debts. Moreover, it is observed that through- out the second half of the 19th century, the accounting systems of the branches, the number of which had been increasing gradually, were re- corded according to the modern double-entry bookkeeping method and that consolidated financial statements were prepared by gathering to- gether the accounting record results of the activities of all the branches at yearend. The Ottoman Bank did not only contribute to Turkish banking through- out the second half of the 19th century but also pioneered in accounting applications, and many credit institutions and commercial organizations followed the accounting applications of the Bank. During the said pe- riod, the accountants who worked in the branches and the central office of the Ottoman Bank did outstanding service in ensuring the double- entry bookkeeping method became widespread in Turkey.

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