accounting

accounting ac‧coun‧ting [əˈkaʊntɪŋ] noun [uncountable]

1. ACCOUNTING JOBS the usual word for the profession of accountancy in the US

2. ACCOUNTING the work of keeping a company's financial records, recording its income and expenses, and its business deals:

• traditional methods of accounting

• The 1985 Companies Act requires companies to keep accounting records.

acˈcrual acˌcounting also accruals accounting ACCOUNTING

accounting based on the principle that when a business buys or sells something, this should affect the profit for the period of time when it happens, not when the related payment is sent or received, even if the payment occurs in a different accounting period:

• With accruals accounting, postponing or bringing forward cash payments or receipts has no effect.

ˈbudgetary acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

a method of accounting in which the planned amounts and actual amounts spent and received are both included in the accounts, so that you can see at any time how much of the planned amount remains

ˈcash acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

a system of accounting in which only amounts of money coming in and going out are shown in the accounts:

• Cash accounting provides measures of cash inflows and cash outflows.

ˈcost acˌcounting also ˈmanagement acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

accounting that studies the costs and profits relating to different parts of a business

creˌative acˈcounting ACCOUNTING

using unusual but not illegal methods in a set of accounts to make them look better than they really are:

• Analysts have criticized his company for relying too much on number-juggling and creative tax accounting to boost profit.

ˌcurrent ˈcost acˌcounting also ˌcurrent ˈvalue acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

a form of accounting in which a business takes account of rising prices in the amounts it records for costs, sales etc:

• In current cost accounting, land is measured in terms of its current value, which in many cases is its replacement cost.

ˈequity acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

when a company owns 20 to 50% of another company, and shows retained earnings from this company in its own accounts:

• The company earned a profit after tax of A$139.9 million; the figures reflect equity accounting of its share of associated companies.

ˌfalse acˈcounting LAW ACCOUNTING

the crime of dishonestly changing figures, records etc or writing false information in a company's financial accounts, deceiving people in order to obtain money by deceiving people:

• Jones was found guilty of four charges of false accounting.

fiˈnancial acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

accounting concerned with the preparation of financial rather than with examining the costs and profits in each part of a business:

• Financial accounting allows you to calculate profit, but is not concerned with how the profit arises.

foˈrensic acˌcounting ACCOUNTING LAW

when a company's financial records are officially checked in order to find out if there has been any illegal activity

inˈflation acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

accounting that takes account of changing prices, for example the current cost of replacing an existing asset:

• inflation accounting techniques in which all costs, revenues, profits and losses are fully adjusted for inflation

ˈsocial acˌcounting

ECONOMICS when a set of accounts is made from government figures, showing the income and spending of the various parts of the economy

ˈtax acˌcounting ACCOUNTING

accounting that deals with preparing a person's or company's financial information, so that it is possible to calculate how much tax they must pay

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accounting UK US /əˈkaʊntɪŋ/ US  /-ṱɪŋ/ noun [U] ACCOUNTING

► the work of preparing the financial records of people, companies, or organizations: accounting methods/practices/procedures »

The lawsuit alleges that the company ""has engaged in a pattern of questionable business and accounting practices"".

accounting irregularities/issues/scandals »

Shares in the group halved in January when it revealed accounting irregularities at its North American business.

»

accounting packages/software/solutions

► (UK accountancy) the job of being an accountant: »

Accounting has always been a popular career for women.

»

an accounting firm

► (UK accountancy) the education that is needed to become an accountant: »

He attended Cleveland State University, where he earned a degree in accounting.

→ See also ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑accrual accounting), BUDGETARY ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑budgetary accounting), CASH ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑cash accounting), CASH BASIS ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑cash basis accounting), COST ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑cost accounting), CREATIVE ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑creative accounting), CURRENT COST ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑current cost accounting), CURRENT VALUE ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑current value accounting), EQUITY ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑equity accounting), FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑fair value accounting), FALSE ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑false accounting), FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑financial accounting), FORENSIC ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑forensic accounting), INFLATION ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑inflation accounting), SOCIAL ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑social accounting), TAX ACCOUNTING(Cf. ↑tax accounting)