Why Do We Need Accounting? Wendy Cuy

Asking that question of an accountant is like asking a farmer why we need rain. We need accounting because it’s the only way for business to grow and flourish. Accounting is the backbone of the business financial world. After all, accounting was created in response to the development of trade and commerce during the medieval times.


Italy is our first recorded source for accounting entries, and the first published accounting work in 1494 was by a Venetian monk. So you see accounting as an organized method for record-keeping has been around almost as long as the trade and business industries. Another interesting fact is the knowledge and principles upon which the first accounting practices were established, have changed very little in the many hundreds of years that accounting has been in use. The concepts of assets, liabilities, and income and the need to reconcile these areas is still the basis for all accounting functions today.


The process for recording those transactions, and the many reports generated by the compilation of that information has evolved over the last two hundred years. Thanks to the creation of computers, many of the bookkeeping functions that are vital to accounting, but somewhat repetitive are performed by data entry clerks, and the reports generated come from the IS Department. The end result is still the same: accounting gives us the financial snapshot we need in order to make solid business decisions about the current status or projected future health of our businesses.


There are two basic categories of accounting: financial accounting and managerial accounting. Financial accounting is comprised of information that companies make available to the general public: stockholders, creditors, customers, suppliers, and regulatory commissions. Managerial accounting deals with information that is not made public. Information such as salary costs, Cost of goods produced, profit targets, and material control information. The knowledge supplied by managerial accounting is for the use of department heads, division managers, and supervisors to help them make better decisions about the day-to-day operations of the business.


Now, what about the “accountability” part of the accounting process? Why do we need that and how do we enforce it? Businesses need to be held accountable for the methods they use to run a business because the potential for greed, theft, and dishonesty exist in every business. You have only to read the current events section of the newspaper to realize how rampant corporate abuse is in business today. We have Enron, HEALTHSOUTH, and Martha Stewart examples to show us just how extensive the problem has become. There are specialized areas of accounting, that when correctly enforced, eliminate the possibility for fraud. Auditing and income taxation, when used correctly, force business to account for all business income, transactions, and transfers, and then to pay their fair share of the tax burden. The catch here is that the principles must be correctly enforced.

Accounting is the conscious of the business world. When handled with care and with respect, it performs as expected. When abuse occurs, and the system is circumvented or overridden because of dishonesty and greed, it doesn’t work correctly. Accounting is much like all other systems in place, they are only as good as the people using them.

Cost Accounting By Wendy Cuy, Leidy Rosero and Yurany Niño

What is Cost Accounting?
Cost accounting is an approach to evaluating the overall costs that are associated with conducting business. Generally based on standard accounting practices, cost accounting is one of the tools that managers utilize to determine what type and how much expenses is involved with maintaining the current business model. At the same time, the principles of cost accounting can also be utilized to project changes to these costs in the event that specific changes are implemented.



When it comes to measuring how wisely company resources are being utilized, cost accounting helps to provide the data relevant to the current situation. By identifying production costs and further defining the cost of production by three or more successive business cycles, it is possible to note any trends that indicate a rise in production costs without any appreciable changes or increase in production of goods and services. By using this approach, it is possible to identify the reason for the change, and take steps to contain the situation before bottom line profits are impacted to a greater degree.


Product development and marketing strategies are also informed by the utilization of cost accounting. In terms of product development, it is possible to determine if a new product can be produced at a reasonable price, considering the cost of raw materials and the labor and equipment necessary to product a finished product. At the same time, marketing protocols can make use of cost accounting to project if the product will sell enough units to make production a viable option.

Cost accounting is helpful in making a number of business decisions. By weighing the actual costs versus the anticipated benefit, cost accounting can help a company to avoid launching a product with no real market, prevent the purchase of unnecessary goods and services, or alter the current operational model in a manner that will decrease efficiency. Whether utilized to evaluate the status of a department within the company or as a tool to project the feasibility of opening new locations or closing older ones, cost accounting can provide important data that may impact the final decision.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cost-accounting.htm

Accounting Assumptions And Principles ...

8.2


1. A company’s financial year does not have to begin on 1 January, like the calendar year.

2. If an American company owns a company in Britain, this is a subsidiary

3. Multinationals, with companies in lots different countries, combine all their results in one set of consolidated financial statements.

4. Every entry in a company’s accounts must be shown; there must be a document available showing that it’s true


8.3
                         Verb                    Noun                         Adjective

                       as'sume                     assumption                          assumed

                      disclose                      disclosure                             disclosed

                      object                        objectivity                            objective

                    recognize                     recognizance                        recognizable

                    subject                         subjectivity                           subjective

                    verify                            verification                           verifiable


1. Both the internal and external auditors have to verify the accounts


2. Companies have to recognize all relevant financial information in their annual reports

3. Despite the subjectivity principle, accountants have to make some subjective judgments.

4. Even if a company is going through a bad period, for accounting purposes we disclose it’s a going concern