The origins of the word exchequer are as follows:
Current senses derive from the Norman department of state dealing with the royal revenues, named Exchequer from the chequered tablecloth on which accounts were kept by means of counters.
References below taken from the accounts of the Earl of Norfolk’s estates in Ireland 1279-94 refer to the “tapetum” or cloth and it is vividly illustrated in The Ros Tapestry panel ” Exchange – The Irish and the Normans Mingle at the Fair”
