God's account

              God's Account
Italian merchants' accounts of the late 14th century often con-tained a special account for the allotment of a portion of the profits for charity. Francesco di Marco Datini's ledger contained such an account in which he recorded his gifts, both in money and in goods to "Christ's Poor." The account was called "God's Account" ("il conto di Messer Domeneddio").
"In some companies, such as that of the Peruzzi, a special pro-portion of the original capital was assigned, at the company's foun-dation, to charity. And in the books of the Compagnia dei Bardi the accounts of 'the share of Messer Domeneddio' were kept in precise-ly the same manner as those of 'the share of Messer Ridolfo', or any other member sharing in the general profits and losses. At the end of the year, when dividends were paid, God's account received an amount equivalent to two shares."
Origo, Iris, The Merchant of Prato: Francesco Di Marco Datini, Penguin Books, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1963, p. 67.