Term of the Moment
iBuyer
Definition: accounting machine
An early data processing machine that was used to compute totals and print. Punch cards were the input to accounting machines, and the output was printed invoices, payroll checks and reports. Accounting machines were programmed by placing wires on a huge plugboard that directed signals from the data in the card columns to numerical accumulators for calculation as well as to the paper columns. Technicians often spent hours wiring boards for new projects, and programming them could be as challenging as writing software today. See EAM, punch card and Hollerith machine.
IBM Data Processing System
The IBM 407 accounting machine (left), keypunch (middle) and sorter (right) were the main ingredients in punch card systems from the late 1940s to the 1970s. After keypunching the data into the cards, they were sorted by account number and fed to the 407 to accumulate totals and print. See sorter and keypunch machine. (Image courtesy of IBM.)