Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Therearemanydefinitionsofaccountingintheliterature,butallofthemresult
insuchfeaturesas(after:Brzezin1998,p.22;Chluska,2016,pp.9-10):
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accountingisaninformation,planningandcontrolsystem,
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accountingprovidesfiguresformanagementpurposes,
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accountingisstrictlydefined,usesitsownmethodsofdataprocessing,
presentationandanalysis.
Thisinformationisprimarilyfinancialandgenerallystatedinmoneyterms.
Accounting,then,isameasurementandcommunicationprocessusedtoreporton
theactivityofprofit-seekingbusinessorganisationsandnon-profitorganisations.
Accountingisoftenconfusedwithbook-keeping.Book-keepingisamechanical
processthatrecordtheroutineeconomicactivitiesofabusiness.Accounting
includesbook-keepingbutgoeswellbeyonditinscope.Accountantsanalyseand
interpretfinancialinformation,preparefinancialstatements,conductaudits,design
accountingsystems,preparespecialbusinessstudies,prepareforecastsand
budgets,andprovidetaxservices(Hermanson,Edwards,Salmonson1989,p.3).
Theaccountingiselastic,determinedwithbalancemethod(anddirectedon
managementneedsandresponsibility)informational-controllingsystem(directed
retrospectiveandprospective),thatidentifiesanddetermineseconomicphenomena
aswellascommunicatesaboutthesephenomena,andalsoincludesprocessesof
materialvaluesformation,flowanddistribution(Brzezin1998,p.15).
Theaccountingprocess(accountingcycle)consistsofthefollowinggroupsof
functions:
Accountantsobservemanyeventsandidentifyandmeasureinfinancialterms
thoseeventsconsideredevidenceofeconomicactivity.Thepurchaseandsale
ofgoodsandservicesareexamplesofeconomicactivities.
Next,theeconomiceventsarerecorded,classifiedintomeaningfulgroups,and
summarisedforconciseness.
Accountantsreportonbusinessactivitybypreparingfinancialstatements
andspecialreports.Oftenaccountantsareaskedtointerpretthesestatements
andreportsforvariousgroupssuchasmanagementandcreditors.Interpretation
mayinvolvedetermininghowthebusinessisperformingcomparedtoprioryears
andothersimilarbusinesses(Hermanson,Edwards,Salmonson,1989,p.3).
Theaccountingsystemistreatedasaninformationsystemandthereforehas
ahugeroleinmanagingbusinessunits.Informationgeneratedbyaccounting
shouldbereliableandcredible(Turyna2006,after:Cieciura2013,p.21).These
requirementsarenowparticularlyimportantinthepreparationandpresentationof
financialstatements.Theaccountingsystemshouldmeettheneedsofrecipients
ofinformationintheever-changingenvironmentoftheenterprise.Recipientsof
informationderivedfromtheaccountingsystemneedrelevant,reliableanduseful
information.Therefore,theaccountingsystemmustadapttotheneedsofrecipients
intermsofbalancesheetvaluation(quantitativedata)andreporting(qualitative
data)(Gos,2011,p.39).
Intheaccountingsystem,measurementthatreflectsthephenomenaand
processesoccurringintheentityisimportant,thereforefinancialstatements
includethosecomponentsthatcanbereliablymeasured.
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