Accounting is an information system which identifies, records, analyzes interprets and communicates the economic data of a financial entity. Accounting consists of three basic activities – it identifies, records, and communicates the economic events of an organization to interested users. Let’s take a closer look at these three activities.
Identifying Economic Events:
Many events are happening each day in a business. Some of them are affecting financial position of the business whereas, some don’t. Events affecting financial position of a business i.e. Assets=Liability+ Owner’s Equity, are called Economic events and supposed to be recorded in accounting system. To identify economic events; a company selects the economic events relevant to its business. Examples of economic events are the sale of snack chips PepsiCo, Providing of telephone services by AT & T, and payment of wages by Ford Motors Company. Examples of non-economic events of the same companies might be appointing a new manager by PepsiCo and departure of a trusted employee from AT & T.
Recording Economic Events:
Once a company like PepsiCo identifies economic events, it records those events in order to provide a history of its financial activities. Recording consists of keeping a systematic, chronological diary of events, measured in dollars and cents. Recording comes through a process called double entry accounting system. The system consists of recording, summarizing, checking mathematical accuracy and preparing statement of financial position.