Accounting is relevant in all walks of life and it’s absolutely essential in the world of business accountants are the bookkeepers and scorekeepers of Business Without accounting a business couldn’t function it wouldn’t know whether it’s making a profit and it wouldn’t know its financial situation whether we know it or not we all have a stake in the profit performance of businesses we deal with the importance of profit to employees customers investors and government isn’t generally appreciated bookkeeping the recordkeeping part of accounting must be done well to make sure that the financial information needed to run the business is complete accurate and reliable especially the numbers reported in financial statements and tax returns wrong numbers in financial reports and tax returns can cause all sorts of trouble accounting EX extends into virtually every Walk of Life you’re doing accounting when you make entries in your checkbook.
And when you fill out your federal income tax return when you sign a mortgage on your home you should understand the accounting method the lender uses to calculate the interest amount charged on your loan each period individual investors need to understand some Accounting in order to figure out their return on invested capital and every organization profit motivated or not needs to know how it stands financially many different kinds of accounting are done by many different kinds of persons and entities for many different purposes accounting for organizations.
And accounting for individuals accounting for profit motivated businesses and accounting for nonprofit organizations such as hospitals homeowners associations churches credit unions and colleges income tax accounting while you’re living and estate tax accounting after you die accounting for farmers who grow their products accounting for miners who extract their products from the earth accounting for producers who manufacture products and accounting for retailers who sell products that others make accounting for businesses and professional firms that sell Services rather than products such as the entertainment transportation and Healthcare Industries past historical based accounting and future forecast oriented accounting that is budgeting and financial planning accounting where periodic financial statements are mandatory businesses are the primary example and accounting where such formal accounting reports aren’t required accounting that adheres to cost mainly most businesses.
And accounting that records changes in market value mutual funds.
For example Accounting in the private sector of the economy and accounting in the public government sector accounting for going concerned businesses that will be around for some time and accounting for businesses in bankruptcy that may not be around tomorrow accounting is necessary in a free market capitalist economic system it’s equally necessary in a centrally controlled socialist economic system.
All economic activity requires information the more developed the economic system the more the system depends on information much of the information comes from the accounting systems used by the businesses individuals institutions and other players in the economic system some of the earliest records of History are the accounts of wealth and trading activity and the need for accounting information was a main incentive in the development of the numbering system we use today now I discuss what bookkeepers and accountants do mainly so you can make sure that the information coming out of your accounting system is complete timely and accurate bookkeeping refers mainly.
To the recordkeeping aspects of accounting it is essentially the process some would say the drudgery of recording all the information regarding the transactions and financial activities of a business or other organization venture or project bookkeeping is an indispensable subset of accounting the term accounting is much broader going into the realm of Designing the bookkeeping system establishing controls to make sure that the system is working well and analyzing and verifying the recorded information bookkeepers follow orders accountants give orders you can think of accounting as what goes on before before and after bookkeeping accountants prepare reports based on the information accumulated by the bookkeeping process financial statements tax returns.
And various confidential reports to managers measuring profit is a critical task that accountants perform a task that depends on the accuracy of the information recorded by the bookkeeper the accountant decides how to measure sales revenue and expenses to determine the profit or loss for the period the tough questions about profit how you measure it in our complex and advanced economic environment and what profit consists of can’t be answered through bookkeeping alone bookkeepers prepare Source documents for all transactions operations and other events of the business source documents are the starting point in the bookkeeping process.
When buying products a business gets a purchase invoice from the supplier when borrowing money from the bank a business signs a note payable a copy of which the business keeps when a customer uses a credit card to buy the business’s product the business gets the credit card slip as evidence of the transaction when preparing payroll checks a business depends on salary rosters and time cards all of these key business forms serve as sources of information into the bookkeeping system in other words information the bookkeeper uses in recording the financial effects of the activities of the business bookkeepers determine and enter in Source documents.
The financial effects of the transactions and other events of the business transactions have Financial effects that must be recorded the business is better off worse off or at least different off as the result of its transactions examples of typical business transactions include paying employees making sales to customers borrowing money from the bank and buying products that will be sold to customers the bookkeeping process begins by determining the relevant information about each transaction the accounting officer of the business establishes the rules and methods for measuring the financial effects of transactions of course the bookkeeper should comply with these rules.
And methods bookkeepers make entries of financial effects into journals and accounts with appropriate references to Source documents using the source document or documents for every transaction the bookkeeper makes the first or original entry into a journal and then into the business’s accounts only an official established chart of accounts should.
Be used in recording transactions a journal is a chronological record of transactions in the order in which they occur like a very detailed Personal Diary in contrast an account is a separate record or page as it were for each asset each liability and so on one transaction affects two or more accounts the journal entry records the whole transaction in one place then each piece is recorded in the two or more accounts that are affected by the transaction bookkeepers perform end of period procedures the critical steps for getting the accounting records up to date and ready for the preparation of accounting reports tax returns and financial statements a period is a stretch of time from one day to 1 month to one quarter 3 months to one year that.
Is to determined by the needs of the business a year is the longest period of time that a business would wait to prepare its financial statements most businesses need accounting reports and financial statements at the end of each quarter and many need monthly financial statements before the accounting reports can be prepared at the end of the period the bookkeeper needs to bring the accounts of the business up to date and complete the bookkeeping process one step for example is recording the depreciation expense for the period another step is getting an actual count of the business’s inventory so that the inventory records can be adjusted to account for shoplifting employee theft and so on the accountant needs to take the final step.
And check for errors in the business’s accounts data entry clerks and bookkeepers may not fully understand the unusual nature of some business transactions and may have entered transactions incorrectly one reason for establishing internal controls is to keep errors to an absolute minimum ideally accounts should contain very few errors at the end of the period but the accountant can’t make any assumptions and should make a final check for any errors that may have fallen through the cracks bookkeepers compile the adjusted trial balance for the accountant which is the basis for preparing reports tax returns and financial statements after all the end of period procedures have been completed.
The bookkeeper compiles a complete listing of all accounts which is called the adjusted trial balance modes sized businesses maintain hundreds of accounts for their various assets liabilities owner’s equity revenue and expenses larger businesses keep thousands of accounts and very large businesses may keep more than 10,000 accounts.
In contrast external financial statements tax returns and internal accounting reports to managers contain a relatively small number of accounts for for example a typical external balance sheet reports only 25 to 30 accounts maybe even fewer and a typical income tax return contains a relatively small number of accounts the accountant takes the adjusted trial balance and telescopes similar accounts into one summary account that is reported in a financial report or tax return for example a business may keep hundreds of separate inventory accounts every one of which is listed in the adjusted trial balance the accountant collapses all these accounts into one summary inventory account.
That is presented in the external balance sheet of the business.
In grouping the accounts.
The accountant should comply with established financial reporting standards and income tax requirements bookkeepers close the books bring the bookkeeping for the fiscal year just ended to a close and get things ready to begin the bookkeeping process for the coming fiscal year books is the common term for a business’s compl complete set of accounts a business’s transactions are a constant stream of activities that don’t end tidily on the last day of the year which can make preparing financial statements.
And tax returns challenging the business has to draw a clear line of demarcation between activities for the year the 12-month accounting period ended and the year yet to come by closing the books for one year and starting with fresh books for the next year most medium-size and larger businesses have an accounting manual that spells out in great detail the specific accounts and procedures for recording transactions but all businesses change over time and they occasionally need to review their accounting system and make revisions companies don’t take this task lightly discontinuities.
In the accounting system can be major shocks and have to be carefully thought out nevertheless bookkeeping and accounting systems can’t remain static for very long if these systems were never changed bookkeepers would still be sitting on high stools making entries with quill pens and ink and leatherbound ledgers accountants prepare certain basic financial statements for a business the three basic financial statements they prepare are income statement a summary of sales revenue and expenses that determine the profit or loss for the period just ended alternative titles include the statement of operations and the statement of earnings inside a business but not in its external Financial reports an income statement may be called a profit and loss statement or p&l report statement of financial condition or balance sheet a summary of a business’s assets liabilities and owner’s equity in order to present its financial position at the end of the period statement of cash flows a summary of cash sources and uses for the period just ended in short business managers at all levels from the chief executive down to the lower rungs on the management ladder and especially managers of smaller businesses…..
Ohanashi AI Gen
https://jvz6.com/c/1399091/430959/
Discover more from The most effective and simplest marketing techniques!
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.










