Before electronic banking, how did wealthy businessmen keep track of their earnings?

Question

Before electronic banking, how did wealthy businessmen keep track of their earnings?

In: 399

Answer 1

They had an army of accountants writing things in ledgers. Double-entry bookkeeping was invented to accurately keep track of the money flowing in and out of various accounts, and it was common for large businesses to have entire _floors_ of accountants whose job it was to keep track of those entries.