As privy finance minister (President of the Court Audit Office) to Emperor Joseph II between 1781 and 1792 von Zinzendorf introduced a uniform system of accounting for state revenues, expenditures, and debts of the territories of the Austrian crown, called Appalt. Austria was more successful than France in meeting regular expenditures and in gaining credit. However, the events of Joseph II's last years also suggest that the government was financially vulnerable to the European wars that ensued after 1792.