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Business Accounting and Its Changing Trends
Kamal Singh
Department of Commerce, Shantiniketen College, Hisar, Haryana, India
Abstract: Business accounting is important because it allows the
tracking of income and expenses, which gives an overall picture
of the business's financial health. Business accountants manage
and produce balance sheets, pay taxes for the company and
oversee all necessary financial reporting. Most companies either
keep their business accounting functions internal or outsource
them to accounting firms. It can be a challenging and rewarding
field for anyone interested in finance. Learn business accounting
by training on the job, or taking courses and classes to learn
about the responsibilities and requirements of the job.
I. INTRODUCTION
ccounting or accountancy is the measurement, processing
and communication of financial information about
economic entities. The modern field was established by
the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli, in 1494. Accounting,
which has been called the "language of business", measures
the results of an organization's economic activities and
conveys this information to a variety of users including
investors, creditors, management, and regulators.Practitioners
of accounting are known as accountants. The terms
accounting and financial reporting are often used as
synonyms.
A
Accounting can be divided into several fields including
financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, and
tax accounting.Accounting information systems are designed
to support accounting functions and related activities.
Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an
organization's financial information, including the preparation
of financial statements, to external users of the information,
such as investors, regulators and suppliers and management
accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and
reporting of information for internal use by management..
II. ACCOUNTING TASKS
1. Check cash position
Since cash is the fuel for your business, you never want to be
running near empty. Start your day by checking how much
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cash you have on hand. Knowing how much you expect to
receive and how much you expect to pay during the upcoming
week/month is important, too -- but it is not gas in your tank.
2. Record transactions
Record each transaction (billing customers, receiving cash
from customers, paying vendors, etc.) in the proper account
daily or weekly, depending on volume. Although recording
transactions manually or in Excel sheets is acceptable, it is
probably easier to use accounting software like QuickBooks.
The benefits and control far outweigh the cost.
3. Document and file receipts
Keep copies of all invoices sent, all cash receipts (cash, check,
and credit card deposits) and all cash payments (cash, check,
credit card statements). Start a vendors file, sorted
alphabetically, (Staples under ―S‖, Costco under "C,"etc.) for
easy access. Create a payroll file sorted by payroll date and a
bank statement file sorted by month. A common habit is to
toss all paper receipts into a box and try to decipher them at
tax time, but unless you have a small volume of transactions,
it's better to have separate files for assorted receipts kept
organized as they come in. Many accounting software systems
let you scan paper receipts and avoid physical files altogether.
4. Review unpaid bills from vendors
Every business should have an ―unpaid vendors‖ folder. Keep
a record of each of your vendors that includes billing dates,
amounts due, and payment due date. If vendors offer
discounts for early payment, you may want to take advantage
of that if you have the cash available.
5. Pay vendors, sign checks
Track your accounts payable and have funds earmarked to pay
your suppliers on time to avoid any late fees and maintain
favorable relationships with them. If you are able to extend
payment dates to net 60 or net 90, all the better. Whether you
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2nd International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research & Practice
[4].
make payments online or drop a check in the mail, keep
copies of invoices sent and received.
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Peggy Bishop Lane on Why Accounting Is the Language of
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