Accounting information at the Hospital San Julian in Albacete among 1838 and 1859

Abstract

In the 19th century, the Spanish charity system still followed the model defended by Enlightenment thinkers: charity understood as the wish to solve the situation of those in need, which overcame the former concept bound more to the salvation of those who practiced charity. This concept of “Enlightenment” charity was supported in the 19^th century and it was the framework where different initiatives regarding care were developed, such as the creation and maintenance of hospitals and hospices.

In this work, we study the hospital system in the province of Albacete, particularly San Julián Hospital in the period from 1838 to 1859 when it was managed by the Municipal Council of Charity. We have analysed the accounting of this institution which was based on the so-called “cargo y data” system, although there are records of double-entry bookkeeping since the end of the 13^th century. The procedure consisted in comparing

collection effected, derived from different income sources, with payments of expenses in a General Account which informed about the treasury of the hospital.

Information has been analysed by means of a database, statistically arranged, that reveals the type of

income and expenses that, on average, represented relatively the most important of all the full amounts, as well as those amounts that reached maximum and minimum values during the studied period. We have aimed to assess the hospital management during those years as well as analyse the accounting information system of the Hospital. The accounting system consisted of a collections and payments register, where the first were a higher figure than the latter. In fact, from 1846 there was a surplus or positive balance to the order of the hospital, which favoured management improvement.