Standardized accounting principles date all the way back to the advent of double-entry bookkeeping in the 15th and 16th centuries which introduced a T-ledger with matched entries for assets and liabilities. Some scholars have argued that the advent of double-entry accounting practices during that time provided a springboard for the rise of commerce and capitalism. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York Stock Exchange attempted to launch the first accounting standards to be used by firms in the United States in the 1930s.