What is Accounting?

Some people consider accounting to be a highly technical field, which is practiced and 

understood only by professional accountants. Virtually everyone practices this "math" in one form or another every day. Whether you are paying  school fees, preparing reports for major organizations or selling products in retail stores, 

You are working with accounting concepts and information to keep accounts and financial reports for the business

98 General Business Education Grade 12       

Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating financial information about an organization or other entity, to  allow informed judgments by users of the information. 

Accounting is the process of keeping records in a prescribed manner. It contains the aspect of saving accounts and therefore offers a lot of it 

data in which accounting principles are applied in the preparation of financial statements and other financial information. Obviously, there is much more to accounting 

bookkeeping to satisfy the needs of users including activities such as processing, summarizing, reporting and interpreting the financial reports. 

 A person who earns a living by recording financial activities of a business is called an accounting clerk. Accounting clerks are often referred to as Bookkeepers. A person who earns a living by undertaking activity of accounting is called accountant. 

 Accounting and Bookkeeping Distinguished Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating 

economic information about an organization or other entity, in order to permit in￾formed judgments by users of the information. Bookkeeping is the process of keeping 

records in a prescribed manner. It encompasses the record-keeping aspect of ac￾counting and, therefore, provides much of the data to which accounting principles 

are applied in the preparation of financial statements and other financial information. 

Obviously, accounting goes much beyond bookkeeping to satisfy the needs of users 

including activities such as processing, summarizing, reporting and interpreting the financial reports. 

Personal record keeping often uses a simple single-entry system, in which amounts 

are usually recorded in column form. Such entries include the date of the transac￾tion, its nature, and the amount of money involved. Record keeping of organizations, however, is based on a double-entry system, whereby each transaction is recorded on the basis of its dual impact on the organization’s financial position or operating re￾sults or both .