University of Virginia Library

Financial Reports

"These books were just
records of sales and purchases.
They never brought together
the information into a
meaningful financial report."
Summarizing the results of a
transaction is the same thing
done today, Mr. Shenkir said.

"It was the fact that
Jefferson developed a crude
accounting system with
insights into modern practices
that set these different books
worlds apart," he said.

Mr. Shenkir received his
doctorate in Accounting and
Finance from the University of
Texas at Austin in 1964 and has
been a certified Public
Accountant since 1965 He
wrote this article on Mr
Jefferson with a former
Graduate Business Prof. Glenn
A. Walsh and the Monticello
curator James A. Bear Jr