“The Account” is a euphemism used by the pirates to refer the act of high seas piracy. Joining a pirate crew became known as "going on the account" due to the requirement of agreeing to the ship's rules, known as Articles of Agreement.
History[]
Season Two[]
Richard Guthrie returns to Nassau to help his daughter, Eleanor, arrange a business agreement with Underhill, a plantation owner on New Providence. He advises her to divest herself from the crews on the account.
Season Three[]
As the Walrus sails into a storm to escape the Orion after rejecting the offer of Royal Pardons, John Silver asks Billy Bones why they didn’t just accept the pardons, say whatever they needed to and then go right back on the Account.
Edward Teach tells Charles Vane and Jack Rackham that by giving Nassau prosperity, they have made it complacent and weak, and he bemoans the state of the place. He tells them that he returned to Nassau go back on the account as he knew it with strong men beside him, but wonders if that is still possible.
Flint explains to his crew the deal he plans on proposing to their Maroon captors. He says that without Nassau, the Maroons have lost a vital supply line. He proposes that they go on the account to hunt for them, using the Maroon Island as a hidden base of operations.
While Flint prepares to duel Teach for control of the Pirate Fleet, Vane warns him that he’ll lose because Flint is weakened after facing starvation and captivity. Flint replies that Teach has been off the account for years and is more vulnerable than he remembers being. Meanwhile, Ben Gunn asks Billy what will happen to them if Flint loses, and Billy says they’ll probably be given a chance to join the fleet and go back on the account.
After Flint’s return is announced, Max tells the prostitutes at the Inn that they have to convince their patrons not to tru and join him. She says that they have to say to every man they see that Flint’s plans are absurd and to remind them of the dangers and deprivations of the account.
Season Four[]
To ensure that the proposal that Max and Jack Rackham is credible, Marion Guthrie has Mr. Oliver look over the ledgers Max provided. After looking over the books, he asks Max about her lack of unpaid laborers. He says that given the extent of her operations, which include cargo, sugar transportation and building and all sorts of things that require manual laborer. He is astonished to learn that all her laborers are paid, for she owns no slaves. He remarks that it is unwise for her to have no slaves and pay for everything in the Bahamas. Max then explains that in Nassau, so many slaves have been freed and joined pirate crews on the account that it would be unlikely that any would submit to slavery easily. She says that to pay for wages costs far less than paying to replace defectors or for guards. After Marion's prodding, Max also reveals that she was once a slave, and refuses to be either property or master.
En route to the island, Jack approaches McCoy while he is standing at the bow. Jack asks him how long it's been since he sailed with Avery to Skeleton Island, telling McCoy that he has a lot riding on this venture. The philosophical old sailor tells Jack that one day, he'll retire from the Account, and the sea will fade into a distant memory, but one that will continue to call to him. And when it does, the memory will feel fresh. McCoy continues to say that he's watched what Jack and his generation of pirates have done with the Account since McCoy and his left it. He says that they've accomplished things that McCoy and his generation could never have dreamed of. McCoy adds that from what he's heard, if they reach Skeleton Island, it might mean the end of Governor Rogers, and keep the Account alive for a little longer. Jack says that they'll do that and more. McCoy then promises to take him to the island. He finishes by saying just what he wants to hear; to hold onto the pirate life for as long as he can.
After Jack arrives at the island and rescues the survivors of the Walrus crew, and John Silver have a quick heart to heart before the battle with Rogers. Silver asks Jack if he and Max presented a plan to Eleanor Guthrie’s grandparents to bolster piracy, and then voices his doubts that they would go along with any plan that would support the account.
After Rogers’ defeat, Silver has Flint taken to Savannah, where he will be kept at the estate of James Oglethorpe for the rest of his life, but he is reunited with Thomas Hamilton. Jack later informs Marion Guthrie of this, calling it Flint’s “retirement” from the account. He says that it is a far more effective end to the conflict in the West Indies than Flint’s death, which would make him a martyr.
“Mark” Read tells Jack Rackham that she hears that Governor Featherstone still allows select crews to go on the account, and drive up prices for the merchants in town. Specifically, she has heard that he allows Rackham to continue the practice. Rackham tells her two important things. While the governor is a dear friend, the true power in Nassau is Max. Second, it is critical for commerce that it be known that there is no more piracy in Nassau. He then tells her to meet him by the jetty, where he takes her onto his ship and crew.