Modern society runs on money. Between bartering, banking, and budgeting, we spend much of our time dealing with monetary exchange. The acquisition and transaction of money have become second nature to us. For this reason, the exchange of currency forms the backbone of societal structure. Naturally, various careers have formed out of the necessity for expertise in the area of money. An accountant, for example, is a career expert at keeping and inspecting financial accounts. A Certified Public Accountant firm (CPA firm) is an organization that provides financial services including tax return planning, business accounting, and financial statement preparation. Clifford, Ross, Raudenbush & Cooper, LLC can help.
What are CPA Firms?
With these CPA firm experts to keep us organized, we don’t personally have to know everything there is to know about finance. And that is a relief! Given how important money is in the modern world, however, it is beneficial to have a surface level understanding of the development of money. We hope this brief history of money will help you appreciate how complex and amazing the economic system is!
The Development of Money
- Before monetary exchange developed, people had to come to the understanding that every object has exchange value that is distinct from its original, objective purpose. When this psychological understanding developed, bartering (the exchange of goods and services) became prevalent.
- Bartering emerged sometime around the Stone Age, and it served as a workable means of carrying out transactions and exchanging different types of goods. Because there was no value standard, however, this process could be somewhat messy. Eventually, as people learned to make metals and assigned value to them, metal became an accepted medium of exchange.
- The ancient Greeks were among the first to take the idea of metal as a medium of exchange and actually produce a standard currency. They mostly produced silver and bronze coins. The Greek ‘drachm’ is an example.
- In order to make sure that coins had value, governments began to regulate the production of currency. This was seen in ancient Rome, where coins were crafted in the temple of Juno Moneta (the word “money” likely stems from that name).
- Eventually, other empires began coining their own money, and different types of coinage began to appear. Bills of exchange became popular during the Middle Ages, when buyers would offer a note promising future pay in exchange for a good or service (similar to the modern check). This paper currency eventually morphed into a medium of exchange (like modern cash).
- In the modern age, developed nations almost exclusively use electronic forms of money. Physical money isn’t nearly as popular as it once was. This demonstrates that ‘money’ is much more than an object with value. It is a concept of value itself, and it has been regulated in a way that we can use it for equal exchange.
A CPA Firm Specializes in Money
Now that you have a general idea about how money developed and how it functions, you can leave the complicated side of money up to a certified accountant. A CPA firm offers several services, and they are guaranteed to offer at least one certified public accountant. Clifford, Ross, Raudenbush & Cooper, LLC is a CPA firm in the El Paso, Texas area that provides cutting edge accounting services. If you desire assistance in the area of accounting, we are available to help.