...The Role of Accounting to Business and Society Justin A. Case Strayer University Introduction to Accounting ACC101 Professor Jose Martinez August 27, 2013 Introduction In today’s economy Accounting plays a huge role, as it points or refers to accountability and transparency in the business environment and paints a picture of any business. Also, it enables business managers and corporate leaders to make better comprehensive decisions regarding the financial shape of their business. Accounting is fundamentally described as a mathematical discipline in which allow companies to universally record, analyze and retrieve financial information that is critical to them. This information is then used to determine the companies’ financial positions consequently enabling the management team to make sound decisions depending on the information at hand. The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society Financial statements are snapshots of a business's economic or cash flow condition. These are mainly formal financial activities, which are written to measure the performance, financial strength and the liquidity of the business. These financial reports include the balance sheet, income or profit and loss statements, and cash flow statement which are used to represent the businesses’ economic position. The income statement which reports the company’s financial status in terms of profits or losses made during a given period. It comprises of income and expenses, from which the...
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...The Role of Accounting in Business and Society According to Merriam-Webster the full definition of accounting is the system of recording and summarizing business and financial transactions and analyzing, verifying, and reporting the results. An accountant is one who is skilled in the practice of accounting or who is in charge of public or private accounts. (http://www.merriam-webster.com, n.d.) Someone who has obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting can pursue many different accounting career fields. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the median annual wage for accountants and auditors was $63,550 in May 2012. Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 13 percent from 2012 to 2022, about as fast as the average for all occupations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.) Many start out in entry level accounting positions or they may take the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination administered by the NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) to become a Certified Public Accountant. CPA’s must also complete certifications and educational requirements as required by their individual states. A CPA is capable of handling many job functions in accounting from auditing and reporting to tax preparations for corporations and individuals. A CPA also assists clients with other financial functions, including asset management, risk assessment, and internal reviews. A CPA may also choose to work for himself as a public accountant or by...
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...The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society Stephanie R. Phillips Professor Cedano Accounting 100 February 27, 2014 When most people think of accounting, they think taxes, but accounting is so much more than that. Accountants are responsible for maintaining the financial health of our businesses. They also practice with an ethical standard that protects the public from unfair and one sided business and government practices. So next time you take your box of unsorted receipts to your tax preparer be sure to thank them for what they do the rest of the year. The four financial statements in the accounting process are an income statement; owner’s equity statement; balance sheet; and statement of cash flow (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Keiso, 2013, p. 21). Each of these statements is vital to internal and external users in order to provide relevant financial data. An income statement lists revenues and expenses that result in the net loss or income of a company during a given time frame, usually at the end of the month and the end of an accounting cycle. The owner’s equity statement accounts for any change in equity, it also records all investments and drawings made by the owner. The balance sheet shows a company’s assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. In essence, the balance sheet shows what a company has and what a company owes. The statement of cash flow accounts for any cash in, out, or invested during the designated time period. The statement of cash flow must account...
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...Assignment 1: The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society Professor ACC 100 – Accounting The Role of Accounting on Business and our Society Accounting is an essential part of modern business. From the smallest start-up to the largest fortune 500 hundred company, accounting is how business growth, contraction, or direction is determined. When entering the accounting world you will be required to deal with the four financial statements, the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of cash flows, and the owner’s equity statement. The purpose of the balance sheet is to reveal the economic/financial position of the company at a set point in time. The balance sheet follows the basic accounting equation, assets = liabilities + owner’s equity. The income statement is what an accountant uses to determine the operation of a business. You would take the revenues minus the expenses to determine the net income for the business. The statement of cash flow is useful in determining a business’s capability to pay its bills. It represents a breakdown of all transactions, and show how the company acquired its cash and what it is doing with it. Lastly there is the statement of owner’s equity. This statement shows the variations in retained earnings. While all of the financial statements are needed the most important would have to be the cash flows statement. Cash flows is most important because it provides you with the information needed to see if a company...
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...The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society Angel Ramos Professor Darlene Green-Connor ACC 100: Accounting I March 2, 2014 The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society There are many decisions that companies make every day in order to be in business as well as to ensure it continues to stay in business. If in retail, such examples would be to extend its inventory or cut back on an item, place certain product on sale or on clearance, or even if it would be better to relocate or sell the company. Before making any of these decisions, management and the decision makers need to know how the company is doing. There are valuable key point indicators that can help in the ultimate direction but no other report is more commonly used than the financial statement. The financial statement of a company tells the story of where the company stands in regards to their financial position, business strategy and future earnings. “As businesses have expanded internationally, so has the need for consistency and comparability in the financial reporting of events and transactions in the financial statements” (Ward, p.78). They are commonly standardized in a format that can be viewed and translated by financial and non-financial people alike. The four major components are the Income Statement, the Owner’s Equity Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Cash Flows. Financial Statements Income Statement The Income Statement is gathered within a specific time period...
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...balance sheet shows the big picture of a company’s Assets, Liabilities and any Owner’s equity that the company has at that particular time. Statement of cash flow – The purpose of the statement of cash flow is, so a business owner is aware of any financial events that could have a reverse effect on the company’s ability to meet their obligations. A balance sheet is most effective in communicating the financial health of an organization because it shows the financial transactions of a company front one point to another. Questions: 2 A public accountants duties include preparing and verifying important financial documents, analyzing budgets and planning finances as well as bookkeeping, and auditing tasks. Public accountants can give advice and provide basic financial information from clients to corporations. Certified public accountants can do the same things that public accountant due as well as overseeing budget and financial management, create and analyze budgets, and advise management on tax ramifications of business decisions. Accounting is an important part of any business. It records the way a business grows, and makes any suggestions on how to improve. Accounting has become one of the fastest growing careers because it expands even more each time a new business starts up. In today’s...
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...Assignment #1- The Role of Accounting on Business and Our Society ACC 100 March 2, 2014 Financial Statements There are three financial statements that are used in the accounting process; Income statement, Statement of Owners Equity and Balance Sheet. The purpose of the income statement is to report a firm’s earnings over a period of time which is usually their previous fiscal year. Statement of owners’ equity reports the changes of the company’s transactions for a particular time period, all changes and edits can be reviewed in a detailed view. The balance sheet list the three major accounting equation within a detailed time period; assets, liabilities and owner’s equity. The most effective way to communicate the financial stability of a company is through the balance sheet summary. The balance sheet allows the company to keep a steady track of their spending and what is outstanding on their books; this can eliminate financial surprises and allows the company to make preparations to recover in a positive way. Major Functions of an Accountant and Certified Public Accountant An accountant and certified public accountant plays a vital role to a company’s financial success, their main duty is to monitor and keep track of the company’s financial records. The role of an accountant is slightly different than a certified public accountant, an accountant for a corporation will manage the finances, purchasing and business transactions with outside firms. They are the financial...
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...CHAPTER 1 THE CHANGING ROLE OF MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING IN A DYNAMIC BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Learning Objectives 1. Define managerial accounting and describe its role in the management process. 2. Explain four fundamental management processes that help organizations attain their goals. 3. List and describe five objectives of managerial accounting activity. 4. Explain the major differences between managerial and financial accounting. 5. Explain where managerial accountants are located in an organization, in terms of formal organization, deployment in cross-functional teams, and physical location. 6. Describe the roles of an organization's chief financial officer (CFO) or controller, treasurer, and internal auditor. 7. Briefly describe some of the major contemporary themes in managerial accounting. 8. Understand and explain the concepts of strategic cost management and the value chain. 9. Understand the ethical responsibilities of a managerial accountant. 10. Discuss the professional organizations, certification process, and ethical standards in the field of managerial accounting. Chapter Overview I. The Management Process in Organizations A. What is managerial accounting? B. Management activities 1. Decision making 2. Planning 3. Directing operational activities 4. Controlling II. How Managerial Accounting Adds Value to the Organization A. Provides information...
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...Definition of managerial accounting -- The process of preparing management reports and accounts that provide accurate and timely financial and statistical information required by managers to make day-to-day and short-term decisions. Unlike financial accounting, which produces annual reports mainly for external stakeholders, management accounting generates monthly or weekly reports for an organization's internal audiences such as department managers and the chief executive officer. These reports typically show the amount of available cash, sales revenue generated, amount of orders in hand, state of accounts payable and accounts receivable, outstanding debts, raw material and inventory, and may also include trend charts, variance analysis, and other statistics. Also called managerial accounting. Management accounting is a profession that involves partnering in management decision making, devising planning and performance management systems, and providing expertise in financial reporting and control to assist manage- ment in the formulation and implemen- tation of an organization’s strategy. Management accounting’s essential compo- nent is the formulation and implementation of strategy to help an organization succeed. Role of managerial accounting and the management accountant in a business or organization --- Managerial accountants record financial information for their companies that is used by the organization’s management team to aid in the decision-making process...
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...Title: Role of accounting on business behaviors impacted by tax changes in Malaysia Justification There are many factors influence the changes of accounting importance where the role of accounting evolves along with the business changes affected by these factors. One of the factors that affect role of accounting in business field is tax. In Malaysia, Tax is generally divided into 2 types which are direct and indirect tax. Direct tax can be defined as tax which is imposed straight to the taxpayer. In short, the payment of tax is between taxpayer towards government. Examples of direct tax are income tax from employee salary, corporation tax, property tax, and etc. Meanwhile, indirect tax is a type of charge that can be transferred to the other person. A good example of indirect tax is restaurant that collect tax charge of the food’s sold from the customer (sales tax). Other examples of indirect tax are custom duty, central excise duty, and service tax). In brief, the history of Malaysia tax was started with more dependency towards indirect tax where establishment of direct tax has only started to take effect from 1 January 1948. This establishment has changed the trend of Malaysia tax which depends more and more on direct tax until today. In 2009 itself, government revenue has grown to 48.6% from direct tax. The urgency of understanding changes in accounting role due to tax, become important because of several reasons. Firstly, as the globalization of the economy develops...
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...Introduction Accounting is the core of a business or organization as it helps to provide the necessary information which is required to make important economic decisions to ensure the organization or business is moving forward. In the business world, companies are now looking for something to be understood mainly to contribute on its effective business and management progress. The advanced pace in technology and the increasing level of competition among organization structure drastically impacts the position of an accountant. The information required by a company to make decision to make sure it is moving forward is provided by accounting. Both managerial and financial accounting plays a big role by working along to ensure the growth of the organization is in the right path. However, both managerial and financial accounting has its own purpose of improving an organization or a business. “Earlier financial accounting experiments typically sought to determine whether specific accounting policy choices would affect investors’ decisions.” (Pg778-experimental research) (122words) Role of Financial Accounting Every organization or business should be able to know their monetary progress or else they would never be able to evaluate if the business is profitable or the other way around. “The purpose of financial accounting is to provide users of financial statements with information that is useful for efficient decision making.”(accounting for intangible-pg102).It prepares the...
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...A SHORT HISTORY OF ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS By Gary Giroux September 1999 Preface Overview: Accounting toward the 21st century: Where are we now? How did we get here? 1. From the Ancient World to Pacioli The First Cities Trade Tokens: The First Accounting The Sumerians Complex Tokens and Clay Tablets Cuneiform Writing and Beyond Money, Banking and Credit The Dark Ages and the Rise of the Italian Merchants Luca Pacioli: The Father of Accounting 2. Britain and the Industrial Revolution Prior to 1750 Ironbridge Textiles The Steam Engine Wedgwood and the Importance of Cost Accounting Early Cost Accounting Transportation Development of the Accounting Profession 3. American Big Business and Cost Accounting Early Developments in Manufacturing and Accounting Rockefeller Morgan and Carnegie Cost Accounting in the Era of Big Business Alternative Systems in Asia and Europe Relevance Lost: The Critique of Johnson and Kaplan The American Response 4. Financial Accounting and the Structure of Accounting Regulation The Great Crash and Government Response The New Role of the Accounting Profession The Financial Accounting Standards Board Earnings Management and Economic Consequences Accounting Principles and the Conceptual Framework 5. Auditing Auditing in the U. S. The Big...
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...Managerial Accounting 12/3/15 Managerial Accounting Accounting is a crucial part in running a business. There are various forms of accounting that can be used, it is very important to know which technique is best to use for what companies. Once you figure out a particular technique to use, it is important to keep an open mind if there are any changes that need to take place in the business. By keeping an open mind helps the business adjust and be able to make the right decisions. Every business wants to make a profit; accounting is an important part in helping understand how profits and expense amounts are derived. One form of accounting I will focus on is managerial accounting or also known as management accounting. Managerial accounting is the process of identifying, analyzing, recording and presenting financial information that is used for internally by the management for planning, decision making, and control. Managerial accounting provides economic and financial information for managers and other internal users (Managerial, 2005). When you tell people about managerial accounting, the first thing they ask is “What’s the difference between managerial and financial accounting?” There are both similarities and differences between managerial and financial accounting. The major similarity each field shares, is that they both deal with the economic events of a business. As an example, determining the unit cost of manufacturing a product is part of managerial accounting. Reporting...
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...ISSN: 2277 – 100X RIJBFA RADIX INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BANKING, FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING DECISION MAKING AND THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING FUNCTION – A REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL LITERATURE Fitsum Kidane (Phd. Research scholar), Lecturer in Accounting and Finance College of Business and Economics Mekelle University Mekelle, Ethiopia Abstract This study examines decision making and the role of management accounting function in a business organization. Using the review of literature, I identify management accountants perform a wide variety of tasks. Only a part of management accounting activity is directed at performance improvement. Some of the activities they perform are related to the statutory reporting requirements of the organization. Some of these are related to the operational requirements of the finance function itself such as processing transactions receiving money and paying bills. Literature foresees new management accounting techniques and changes in organizational and business environments having a huge impact on management accountants’ roles, yet empirical evidence on fundamental shifts in these roles remains relatively scarce. Journal of Radix International Educational and Research Consortium www.rierc.org RIJBFA KEYWORDS Volume 1, Issue 4(April 2012) ISSN: 2277 – 100X Decision making, management accountant, management accounting INTRODUCTION Accounting can be defined as "the process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic...
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...Roles, authority and involvement of the management accounting function: a multiple case-study perspective Caroline Lambert HEC, Paris 1, rue de la Libération 78351 Jouy en Josas Cedex lambert@hec.fr Samuel Sponem Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers GREG-CRC (EA 2430) samuel.sponem@cnam.fr Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to participants at the European Accounting Association Conference 2009, the Accounting department ESSEC seminar, France, and at the seminar of Ecole de Comptabilité de l’Université Laval, Québec, Canada for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. They also wish to thank and useful suggestions of members of the CriM group, Martin Messner and Juhani Vaivio. We would particularly like to thank Markus Granlund and the two anonymous reviewers for their many helpful comments and suggestions. Both authors thank ‘Fondation HEC’ and ‘Agence Nationale de la Recherche’ for their fundings. Abstract Recent techniques and shifts in the environment are often foreseen as leading management accountants to adopt a business orientation. However, empirical evidence pointing to fundamental shifts in the roles played by management accountants remains relatively scarce. We explore this paradox and give sense to the various roles played by the management accounting function by focusing on how management accountants are involved in and endowed with authority in decision-making situations. Using data we gathered from 73 interviews in ten...
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