The purpose of this contribution is to present an account of the development of accounting practice in Russia at the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. The government reforms carried out by Peter the Great resulted in the implementation of new administrative structures that considerably improved the management of tsarist finances. The cameralist method of accounting was introduced in order to increase the control of public money. As a result, the position of the financial control institution was reinforced within the State. This study provides an investigation into the building process of the monarchical State and its financial system at this crucial period of Russian history.