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Sales Tax Officer- Study Materials- Part I
Accounting
Introduction-In all activities (whether business activities or non-business activities) and in all organizations (whether business organizations like a manufacturing entity or trading entity or non-business organizations like schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, clubs, temples, political parties) which require money and other economic resources, accounting is required to account for these resources. In other words, wherever money is involved, accounting is required to account for it. Accounting is often called the language of business. The basic function of any language is to serve as a means of communication. Accounting also serves this function
Meaning of Book keeping and Accounting
Book- keeping includes recording of journal, posting in ledgers and balancing of accounts. All the records before the preparation of trail balance is the whole subject matter of book- keeping. Thus, book- keeping many be defined as the science and art of recording transactions in money or money’s worth so accurately and systematically,in a certain set of books, regularly that the true state of businessman’s affairs can be correctly ascertained. Here it is important to note that only those transactions related to business are recorded which can be expressed in terms of money.
Accounting, as an information system is the process of identifying, measuring and communicating the economic information of an organization to its users who need the information for decision making. It identifies transactions and events of a specific entity. A transaction is an exchange in which each participant receives or sacrifices value (e.g. purchase of raw material). An event (whether internal or external) is a happening of consequence to an entity (e.g. use of raw material for production). An
entity means an economic unit that performs economic activities.
Definition of Accounting
According to the Committee on Terminology of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), “Accounting is the art of recording, classifying and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are in part at least, of a financial character, and interpreting the results thereof”.
Need, Importance and advantages of Accounting
i) To keeping systematic record: It is very difficult to remember all the business transactions that take place. Accounting serves this purpose of record keeping by promptly recording all the business transactions in the books of account.
ii) To ascertain the results of the operation: Accounting helps in ascertaining result i.e., profit earned or loss suffered in business during a particular period. For this purpose, a business entity prepares either a Trading and Profit and Loss account or an Income and Expenditure account which shows the profit or loss of the business by matching the items of revenue and expenditure of the some period.
iii) To ascertain the financial position of the business: In addition to profit,a businessman must know his financial position i.e., availability of cash, position of assets and liabilities etc. This helps the businessman to know his financial strength. Financial statements are barometers of health of a business entity.
iv) To portray the liquidity position: Financial reporting should provide information about how an enterprise obtains and spends cash, about its borrowing and repayment of borrowing, about its capital transactions, cash dividends and other distributions of resources by the enterprise to owners and about other factors that may affect an enterprise’s liquidity and solvency.
v) To protect business properties: Accounting provides upto date information about the various assets that the firm possesses and the liabilities the firm owes, so that nobody can claim a payment which is not due to him
vi) To facilitate rational decision – making: Accounting records and financial statements provide financial information which help the business in making rational decisions about the steps to be taken in respect of various aspects of business.
vii) To satisfy the requirements of law: Entities such as companies, societies, public trusts are compulsorily required to maintain accounts as per the law governing their operations such as the Companies Act, Societies Act, and Public Trust Act etc. Maintenance of accounts is also compulsory under the Sales Tax Act and Income Tax Act
Advantage to different users of Accounting Informat
i) Owners: The owners provide funds or capital for the organization. They possess curiosity in knowing whether the business is being conducted on sound lines or not and whether the capital is being employed properly or not. Owners, being businessmen, always keep an eye on the returns from the investment. Comparing the accounts of various years helps in getting good pieces of information.
ii) Management: The management of the business is greatly interested in knowing the position of the firm. The accounts are the basis, the management can study the merits and demerits of the business activity. Thus, the management is interested in financial accounting to find whether the business carried on is profitable or not. The financial accounting is the “eyes and ears of management and facilitates in drawing future course of action, further expansion etc.”
iii) Creditors: Creditors are the persons who supply goods on credit, or bankers or lenders of money. It is usual that these groups are interested to know the financial soundness before granting credit. The progress and prosperity of the firm, two which credits are extended, are largely watched by creditors from the point of view of security and further credit. Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet are
nerve centres to know the soundness of the firm. iv) Employees: Payment of bonus depends upon the size of profit earned by the firm. The more important point is that the workers expect regular income for the
bread. The demand for wage rise, bonus, better working conditions etc. depend upon the profitability of the firm and in turn depends upon financial position. For these reasons, this group is interested in accounting.
v) Investors: The prospective investors, who want to invest their money in a firm, of course wish to see the progress and prosperity of the firm, before investing their amount, by going through the financial statements of the firm. This is to safeguard the investment. For this, this group is eager to go through the accounting which enables them to know the safety of investment.
vi) Government: Government keeps a close watch on the firms which yield good amount of profits. The state and central Governments are interested in the financial statements to know the earnings for the purpose of taxation. To compile national accounting is essential.
vii) Consumers: These groups are interested in getting the goods at reduced price. Therefore, they wish to know the establishment of a proper accounting control, which in turn will reduce to cost of production, in turn less price to be paid by the consumers. Researchers are also interested in accounting for interpretation.
viii) Research Scholars: Accounting information, being a mirror of the financial performance of a business organization, is of immense value to the research scholar who wants to make a study into the financial operations of a particular firm. To make a study into the financial operations of a particular firm, the research scholar needs detailed accounting information relating to purchases, sales, expenses, cost of
materials used, current assets, current liabilities, fixed assets, long-term liabilities and share-holders funds which is available in the accounting record maintained by the firm.
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