Accountants

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Accounting and Bookkeeping, process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating economic information about an organization or other entity. The three most important areas of accounting are auditing, income taxation, and nonbusiness organizations. Auditing is the examination, by an independent accountant, of the financial data, accounting records, business documents, and other pertinent documents of an organization to evaluate the accuracy of its financial statements. Preparation of income-tax forms requires knowledge of various tax laws and regulations. Nonbusiness organizations include universities, hospitals, churches, trade and professional associations, and government agencies. These organizations do not necessarily try to make a profit. II. Accounting Principles Accounting as it exists today may be viewed as a system of principles. Following are several fundamental accounting concepts. The entity concept states that the item or entity that is to receive an accounting must be clearly defined, and that the relationship assumed to exist between the entity and external parties must be clearly understood. The going-concern assumption states that it is expected that the entity will continue to operate indefinitely. The historical-cost principle requires that economic resources be recorded in terms of the amounts of money exchanged; when a transaction occurs, the exchange price is by its nature a measure of the value of the economic resources that are exchanged. The realization concept states that accounting takes place only for those economic events to which the entity is a party. The matching principle states that income is calculated by matching a period's revenues with the expenses incurred in order to bring about that revenue. The accrual principle defines revenues and expenses as the inflow and outflow of all assets—as distinct from the flow only of cash assets—in the course of operating the enterprise. The consistency criterion states that the accounting procedures used at a given time should conform with the procedures previously used for that activity. The disclosure principle requires that financial statements present the most useful amount of relevant information. The substance-over-form standard emphasizes the economic substance of events even though their legal form may suggest a different result. The conservatism doctrine states that when exposure to uncertainty and risk is significant, accounting measurement and disclosure should take a cautious and prudent stance until the uncertainty and risk are reduced. III. The Balance Sheet There are two traditional types of financial statements, the balance sheet and the income statement. The balance sheet provides information about an organization's assets, liabilities, and owners' equity. The format of the balance sheet reflects the basic accounting equation: Assets equal equities. Assets are economic resources that provide potential future service to the organization. Equities consist of the organization's liabilities together with the equity interest of its owners. (For example, a certain house is an asset worth $70,000; its unpaid mortgage is a liability of $45,000, and the equity of its owners is $25,000.) Assets are categorized as current or long-lived. Current assets are those that can be converted into cash within one year; they include cash, receivables, merchandise inventory, and short-term investments in stocks and bonds. Long-lived assets encompass the physical plant, including land, buildings, machinery, and motor vehicles. Liabilities are obligations that the organization must remit to other parties, such as creditors and employees. Current liabilities usually are amounts that are expected to be paid within one year, including salaries and wages, taxes, and short-term loans. Noncurrent liabilities are usually debts that will come due beyond one year—such as bonds, mortgages, and long-term loans. The income statement summarizes the enterprise's revenues, expenses, gains, and losses. Revenues are transactions that represent assets received from selling goods and rendering services. Expenses are transactions involving the outflow of assets in order to generate revenue, such as wages, rent, interest, and taxes. IV. Bookkeeping and Accounting Cycle Modern accounting entails a seven-step accounting cycle. (1) A transaction is recorded in a journal. Every transaction is identified in its debit (or left side) and credit (or right side) aspects. (2) The amounts that appear in the various journals are transferred to the organization's general ledger. The page for each of the organization's accounts shows its debits on the left side and its credits on the right side, so that the balance of each account can be determined. (3) The balances of all the accounts are listed, and it is determined whether the sum of all the debit balances agrees with the sum of all the credit balances. Once this trial balance has been confirmed, the bookkeeping portion of the accounting cycle is concluded. (4) Once bookkeeping procedures have been completed, the accountant prepares adjustments to recognize events that, although they did not occur in conventional form, are in substance already completed transactions, such as interest earned but not yet received, or wage cost incurred but not yet paid. (5) The accountant then prepares an adjusted trial balance—one that combines the original trial balance with the effects of the adjustments. (6) With the balances in all the accounts thus updated, financial statements are then prepared. (7) Accounts that will begin fresh the next fiscal period are then closed. This procedure reduces to zero the balances of these accounts so that they can receive new debit and credit amounts in the next business period. Accountant Home / Categories / Join