Budżet miasta Krakowa na przełomie XVI i XVII w.

The finances of the town of Cracow were managed by two town officials annually chosen by the council, one representing the officiating council and the other – its predecessor. The chancery established in 1598 administrated all financial issues. Each year, it set up a list of revenues and expenses, which were subsequently presented to be confirmed by the councillors and the representatives of the common people. The accounting book registered with the help of Arabian numerals all the incomes and expenses, which were divided into several score categories and then summed up at the bottom of a page; at the end of each section the accountants summed up all the positions in grzywnas. The revenues received by the town treasury were collected by the chancery staff. The most important taxes and customs were gathered directly by the head of the treasury, who registered them in detail, marking the precise date of the day. The majority of other payments were, as a rule, collected on a weekly basis, and first noted down in separate registers; then, every quarter they were paid to the town treasury by the collector. At the same time, the town hall kept weekly accounts of all incomes and expenditure. Some of the revenues were not transferred to the town treasury but were used directly for the maintenance of municipal institutions (e.g. the hospital). Taxes and rents covered the costs of the functioning of the town commune. In the sixteenth century the majority of the money from the budget was intended for the expanding civil servant apparatus and the town services, as well as the representation of the town and the employment of people mainly for the maintenance of roads and walls. The authorities of Cracow did not apply double entry (Italian) bookkeeping nor did they plan a budget. During deficit years Cracow took loans, which it usually paid back by leasing particular components of town property.