Accounting is basically
a service function designed to inform management and other interested parties
like analysts, investors, creditors, shareholders, about the financial
implications and their effects on the organisation.
From the foregoing,
therefore, Accounting can be said to be the language of business; it can be
seen as a management tool, as their reports provide the basis for planning, and
initiating control measures.
The
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines accounting
as “the art of recording,
classifying and summarising in a significant manner and in terms of money,
transactions and events which are, in part at best, of a financial character,
and interpreting the result thereof”.
Agboroh (1991). Defined
accounting as “the application of book keeping principles and techniques in
recording, classifying, and summarizing financial transactions and interpreting
the result there of to various users of such information.
The American Accounting Association defined accounting as: “It is
the process of identifying, measuring, recording and communicating the required
information relating to the economic events of an organisation to the
interested users of such information”.
According to Okwoli (1993:), accounting is “the process of
identifying, measuring, and communicating economic and financial information to
permit informed judgement and decision by the users of the information.”
Anthony et al, (1995). Accounting is the process of
identifying, measuring and communicating economic information about an entity
to permit informed judgments and decisions by users of the information.
Wood
and Sangster defined
accounting as “the process of identifying, measuring, and communicating
economic information to permit informed judgments’ and decisions by users
of the information.”