Importance The article presents a pioneering historical overview of the origination of accounting and financial reporting in the city government, illustrating financial statements of the City of Moscow within 1870s through 1880s. Objectives The article analyzes the content, methods and progress of financial reporting during the period when local authorities originated in Russia, and Moscow, in particular. Methods The methodological framework relies upon a historical analysis of how financial reporting evolved in the city government. The research is also based on analysis, synthesis, substantiation of the cause and effect relation, observation, comparison, grouping, interpretation, etc. Results I figured out what kind of financial reporting the City of Moscow had issued for the first decades after the city government had been established. I also reviewed its format, methodological basis and novelties as compared with general practices. Conclusions and Relevance Financial statements of the City of Moscow of the said period exemplify the elaborated and creative approach to preparation of municipal reports. Moscow's financial statements of the period were of the dual nature, i.e. they split financial and annual reports and included non-financial information, rather than only financials prescribed in laws. This expertise may appear interesting for the contemporary accounting and financial reporting reform in the public sector.
Keywords: accounting history, public bookkeeping, financial report, annual report, city government
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