So we survived 2 hardforks (HF21 + HF22) in quick succession. HF22 was done to resolve a bug where huge accounts are unable to delegate. [I am glad that it is now resolved](https://steempeak.com/hf22/@steemitblog/hardfork-22-live) but at the same time finding it weird as to why it was not detected during testing. Good job nonetheless to the developers and witnesses who detected the issue and resolved it promptly. Hopefully as the platform continues to run smoothly, STEEM price will bottom out and climb back steadily.

---

#### Ledgers

<center>![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/culgin/HcKLhDzn-image.png)</center>
*[Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/ledger-accounting-business-money-1428230/)*

Anyway, I am not going to discuss HF22 today. Instead, I am going to talk about ledgers. A ledger is defined as ***"A book in which the monetary transactions of a business are posted in the form of debits and credits"***. Ledgers are used in an activity called [bookkeeping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookkeeping) which allows people to keep track of financial transactions. The idea of bookkeeping has been around since 2600 BCE. Before the proliferation of personal computers, ledgers were usually maintained in the form of pen-and-paper. Even till today, we still see many small businesses using physical pen-and-paper ledgers. 

#### Physical to digital

Ever since Microsoft popularized the use of the "Office Software Suite", more businesses started to adopt digital forms of ledgers. Microsoft Excel made it easy to maintain a simple form of digital ledgers. Gradually, technologies evolve and software developed for accounting started to emerge. Such software ranges from simple locally installed tools to large scale enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. With cloud computing becoming the norm these days, Software-as-a-Service account tools are also getting increasingly popular.

#### Main motivations to keep ledgers

Why do companies keep ledgers? It is granted that being able to know what are the transactions and where exactly the funds are flowing are useful information for making management decisions. However, the most important reason for most companies to keep their books is audit and compliance. This is especially so for public-listed companies.

Serving quarterly and annual financial reports to the shareholders is a requirement for companies to stay listed. Every year, companies will be audited on their financial records. That is the main reason why businesses are investing heavily on software and systems to help them keep track of financial transactions. Having these tools not only simplify the daily operations, it also make it less error-prone and auditing easier.

#### Audits are still not cheap

<center>![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/culgin/Nl7khPPo-image.png)</center>

According to [this site](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/erp-software-pricing/), the cost of maintaining a ERP or accounting system ranges from $260k to $430k annually for a company with over 100 users. Despite maintaining large and sophisticated systems performing audits is still not easy. [In 2018, the big four audit firms raked in almost US$56 billions of revenue just from their audit and assurance functions](https://www.statista.com/statistics/250935/big-four-accounting-firms-breakdown-of-revenues/). That is not inclusive of revenues of other small audit firms.

Why do audits still cost so much even with technological advancements and substantial spending on accounting tools/systems? I think it is largely because a relative lack of transparency in these centralized and corporate owned systems. Having worked in one of the big fours before, an audit exercise not only needs to ascertain the integrity of the transactions, there are still many other checks required on the processes and on the system itself.

#### Centralized to decentralized?

<center>![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/culgin/1aoCJnxv-image.png)</center>
*[Source](https://pixabay.com/illustrations/blockchain-block-chain-group-3508589/)*

I have a random thought which may be too idealistic. But what if all companies leverages decentralized ledgers (public blockchains) to keep track of financial transactions? Public blockchains are essentially decentralized ledger-as-a-service. Anybody can make use of public blockchains as a ledger to keep track of their transactions. Such transactions are transparent and auditable by the public, by you and me. Under such a model, system maintenance and audit costs will be lowered. Auditors can safely assume that transactions committed to the blockchain can never be tampered with. Hence, they just need to audit the process of committing those transactions.

Having the transactions on public ledgers also forge more trust between shareholders and companies. The [Enron scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal) will become a thing of the past. This not only mean a shift from centralized ledgers to decentralized ledgers. It also mean a shift from centralized audits to decentralized audits. Radical transparency!

When this day comes, if it ever comes, which do you think will be blockchain of choice? Do share your thoughts and thanks for reading!

---

#### The "Raise to 50" Initiative

Under 50 SP and finding it hard to do much on this platform? I might just be able to raise your SP to 50. [Check this post to find out more](https://steempeak.com/raiseto50/@culgin/announcing-the-raise-to-50-initiative)!

---

This article is created on the Steem blockchain. Check this series of posts to learn more about writing on an immutable and censorship-resistant content platform:
- [What is Steem? - My Interpretation](https://steempeak.com/steem/@culgin/what-is-steem-my-interpretation)
- [Steem Thoughts - Traditional Apps vs Steem Apps](https://steempeak.com/steem/@culgin/steem-thoughts---traditional-apps-vs-steem-apps)
- [Steem Thoughts - A Fat or Thin Protocol?](https://steempeak.com/@culgin/steem-thoughts---is-steem-a-fat-protocol-or-a-thin-protocol)
- [Steem Thoughts - There is Inequitable Value Between Users and Apps](https://steempeak.com/@culgin/steem-thoughts---inequitable-value-between-users-and-apps)
- [Make my votes count! Use Dustsweeper!](https://steempeak.com/@culgin/make-my-votes-count-use-dustsweeper)