Fabio Besta. Financial valuations at the beginning of the twentieth century in Italy

This chapter deals with Fabio Besta, an Italian scholar of accounting who lived between the XIX and the XX century. According to his “value-based accounting theory”, the wealth characterizing all kinds of azienda is the object to be measured; as wealth elements are different, they can only be properly considered under the uniform aspect that makes them comparable, their value. Following this approach, Besta developed a precise and detailed set of financial valuations rules: some of them have been explained, both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. Thanks to this analysis, it is possible to understand the significance and the role that Besta gave to the accrual and the prudence principles.