The Rise of a Self-Made Accountant: Giuseppe Cerboni and Logismography in the Kingdom of Italy

Giuseppe Cerboni (1827-1917) made a significant contribution to the development of public sector accounting in Italy. A ‘self-made accountant’, he had no accounting training and, despite his humble origins, rose to the position of State Accountant General. His most important invention was logismography, a very original accounting construct that he worked on all his life. Although logismography is best known for its application in government accounting, it was originally developed in the context of local government. The results of the application of logismography were mixed. On the one hand, Cerboni’s framework was theoretically brilliant, but on the other it was difficult to apply to the complex public sector of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy. Despite the criticism it attracted, Cerboni’s work remains a milestone in the development of Italian public sector accounting.