Danisha Williams
ACC 537
Paper 1
October 29, 2011

Accounting is very important part of business aspect. This paper will discuss four different topics of accounting: generally accepted accounting practices, effective accounting information, the difference between accrual based accounting and cash basis accounting, and finally the different types of business structure and defining each structure. The topics above will provide accountants with the knowledge that is need in order to be successful.
Topic 1
Accountants can use many different accounting principles but there are only a few that are accepted by law known as the generally accepted accounting practices. According to Wikipedia the generally accepted accounting practices are defined as“ accounting rules used to prepare, present and report financial statements for wide variety of entities, including publicly-traded and privately-held companies.” The principles are set by Financial Accounting Standard Board(FASB), Interpretations, and staff positions; APB Opinions and AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins. FASB standard, Interpretations and Staff position. The GAAP are guidelines that all accountants must follow when preparing financial statements for different organization and companies. Each Organization listed above creates the GAAP hierarchy each one is important to the accounting principles for the reason it identifies the sources on the way that financial statements should be prepared.
Topic 2
In order to comply with federal laws, every accountant must have knowledge of effective accounting information. Since most organizations hire accountant firms to handle their financial aspects, the SEC was designed to watch each firm closely to make sure that they are doing everything according to federal guidelines. The effective account information comes from GAAP and the different organization that governs