In medieval times the method of accounting in local authorities as well as on landed estates was charge/discharge. Both sectors in due course moved over to double entry bookkeeping. This paper uses principally the records of municipal corporations to examine the transition from the one method to the other. The findings are then used as the basis for evaluating general explanations for the adoption of double entry bookkeeping (Yamey, 1956), as interpreted by Jones (1992) in the context of municipal corporations.