Which record is the oldest surviving accounting record in the English language, containing the yearly accounting of rents, fines, and taxes due to the King from 1130 to 1830?

• A. Della Marcatura et del Mercante Perfetto
• B. Pipe Roll or the Great Roll of the Exchequer
• C. Domesday Book
• D. De Computis et Scripturis

Answer: (B)

The key idea is the origin of formal royal accounting in medieval England. The Pipe Roll, known as the Great Roll of the Exchequer, is the oldest surviving set of annual financial records kept by the crown. Each roll tallies what is due to the king from rents, fines, and taxes across the realm, and these tallies were updated year by year from around 1130 onward. This collection shows how the Exchequer tracked revenues and began the systematic oversight and auditing that underpins modern accounting and public finance.

The other items don’t fit this description as well. The Domesday Book is a 1086 land-and-value survey used for taxation, not an ongoing year-by-year accounting of revenues. De Computis et Scripturis is a Latin treatise on bookkeeping, not a royal revenue record in English. The Italian-titled item is not an English-language accounting record.