Color holds a powerful place in our human consciousness. Whenever I see purple - or even hear the word - I am transported back to my youth and the Jacaranda trees of Johannesburg.

I see purple every day in my work at Color Accounting, as it is the symbol for profit in our BaSIS Framework. Purple points to Profit!

Jacaranda is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America

Our approach celebrates other colors as well. 

Yellow for Liabilities, Equity & Income, the source of all funds, without which businesses can't exist. Rather like the sun, the source of all our energy. 

And in the green area of our framework, the business puts the funding to work, as Assets & Expenses. Just as plants photosynthesize sunlight in their leaves to grow and thrive.

Yes, colors have always been symbolic. Which is why purple has also trumpeted the presence of royalty for eons.

Best regards, Peter

Netflix's The Crown, about the life of Queen Elizabeth II, is the most expensive TV series ever.

Back in December 2016, in this same space, we shared with you The Power Of Zero, a story of the digit's invention to support Accounting, and the impact it has had ever since.

Today we are publishing a correction. It appears that this powerful number was invented in quite a different time and place than we had thought.

This dot evolved into the use of zero as a number in its own right.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BODLEIAN LIBRARIES, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

According to a recent article in National Geographic, zero was created in an area closer to South Asia (present day Pakistan) than to the Middle East, and was first used 500 years earlier than previously thought.

The birch bark "Bakhshali Manuscript" was probably used by Silk Road traders practicing arithmetic during their journeys to distant marketplaces.

What I continue to find most fascinating is that, while this concept was originally created to support Accounting, it has gone on to become a central tool in fields of study from Physics to Calculus and beyond.

Any way you look at it, there is tremendous power in nothing, or zero at least.

Best regards, Peter

When we started developing Color Accounting as a better way to teach accounting and business acumen, we thought color was the biggest deal. Now I believe it’s words.

To understand financial statements, you first have to understand the words. Without the words, the numbers are meaningless.

Some of the radical things we do with words include thinking of revenue more as a verb than a noun.

And pointing out the ambiguity of words that we use everyday. Is ‘income’ closer to ‘sales’ or ‘profit’? Europeans say the former, Americans the latter.

We also seek to define accounting terms as simply as possible, identifying Revenue as 'value generating activity' and Expense as 'value sacrificing activity.'

What is the worth of words? Well, many firms have gone bankrupt simply by confusing revenue for cash.

Best regards, Peter

Few cultures have more business experience than do the Chinese.

For thousands of years, the Chinese have been trading among themselves and their neighbors, establishing and perfecting best practices which today have them on the brink of becoming the world's largest economy.

Which is why we are so pleased to announce that, this very week, Color Accounting Co-founder Mark Robilliard is presenting the first workshops in Shanghai for our newest China sales partner, Mr. Jason Xu Fei, of BizAcumen.cn.

Jason visited our booth at ATD2017 in Atlanta earlier this year and asked if we had any interest in entering the Chinese marketplace. Courtship quickly turned to commitment, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As our own "Mark-O" Polo, Mr. Robilliard is blazing a new trail along the Silk Road, and we cannot wait to hear the tales of his adventure.

Best regards, Peter