counting house

American  

noun

1. a building or office used by the accounting and bookkeeping department of a business.

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counting house British  

noun

1. rare a room or building used by the accountants of a business

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Etymology

Origin of counting house

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The counting house trained the next generation of merchants, creating a distinct white-collar class.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

“It’s like looking for gold coins, except you know where the king’s counting house used to be.”

From BBC • May 30, 2024

Think, as some have suggested, of a dusty leather-bound ledger in a Dickensian counting house, a record of every transaction relevant to that practice.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 15, 2018

He would never have left the counting house if one of his rivals had delivered the message, and sounded as if he meant it.

From Washington Times • Aug. 6, 2015

It was this emblem Merchant Lyte had on everything he owned—carved above his counting house on Long Wharf, engraved on all his silver— even on dog collars and harnesses.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes