account room; bookkeeper; counting house
Meanings
2 senses · 7 examplesnoun
account room; counting house (in old enterprises or wealthy households)
archaicRefers to the physical office or room where accounts were managed in pre-modern businesses or large residences. Often contained abacuses, ledgers, and strongboxes. The variant 账房儿 (zhàng fáng r) is used in some northern dialects.
In the past, large residences all had dedicated account rooms.
The counting house was piled with account books and abacuses.
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He locked the silver dollars in the account room's safe.
noun
bookkeeper; accountant; cashier (person working in the account room)
archaicRefers to the person who manages accounts and cash, typically in traditional businesses. Distinct from 账房先生 (zhàng fáng xiān sheng), which is more formal/polite, though often used interchangeably.
He worked as a bookkeeper at the money shop for twenty years.
Old Wang is the veteran bookkeeper at our shop.
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The bookkeeper is checking today's accounts.
That bookkeeper is very skilled with the abacus.