what is accounting?

Answer 1

accounting is the black art of overcharging people to help them with the black art of financial reporting

Answer 2

accounting can be both the worst thing or the best thing to chose to do.. i say this coz i have been doing it for almost 3 years now and believe me it can be a boring process where most the time you just crunching numbers or waiting for work.

however on the other hand like myself if you chose to go a step further than just accounts it starts to get a bit more interesting.. but dont get me wrong the work gets more and occassionally more stressfull.

but i chose to go further coz accounts was a bit too boring for me and now im a trainee with audits and its fun going to clients and getting to know the people while you do their books but its can get a bit much when info is missing and you have a deadline to meet

Answer 3

accounting is reporting on your actions

financial accounting is how businesses report on their actions each year

accounting is the act of being accountable

Answer 4

To put it in a straight and simple way, its the basic method of keeping records in a proper manner so that u know the financial position of ur business, eg. profitablity and also have the necessary quantitative data for decision making!

Answer 5

My simple definition:
It's basically keeping track of money you make and spend and where you get it from (e.g. personal money or debt). It's a way to keep track of all financial goings-on of a business.

Another good definition:
The overall process of identifying, measuring, recording, interpreting, and communicating the results of economic activity; tracking business income and expenses and using these numbers to answer specific questions about the financial and tax status of the business.

See more definitions that may help here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Aaccounting