Over the centuries, accounting has remained confined to the financial record-keeping functions of the accountant. But, today’s rapidly changing business environment has forced the accountants to reassess their roles and functions both within the organisation and the society. The role of an accountant has now shifted from that of a mere recorder of transactions to that of the member providing relevant information to the decision-making team. Broadly speaking, accounting today is much more than just book-keeping and the preparation of financial reports. Accountants are now capable of working in exciting new growth areas such as: forensic accounting (solving crimes such as computer hacking and the theft of large amounts of money on the internet); e-commerce (designing web-based payment system); financial planning, environm­­ental accounting, etc. This realisation came due to the fact that accounting is capable of providing the kind of information that managers and other interested persons need in order to make better decisions. This aspect of accounting gradually assumed so much importance that it has now been raised to the level of an information system. As an information system, it collects data and communicates economic information about the organisation to a wide variety of users whose decisions and actions are related to its performance. This introductory chapter therefore, deals with the nature, need and scope of accounting in this context.

1.1 Meaning of Accounting

In 1941, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) had defined 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 least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof’.With greater economic development resulting in changing role of accounting, its scope, became broader. In 1966, the American Accounting Association (AAA) defined accounting as ‘the process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit informed judgments and decisions by users of information’.

In 1970, the Accounting Principles Board of AICPA also emphasised that the function of accounting is to provide quantitative information, primarily financial in nature, about economic entities, that is intended to be useful in making economic decisions.

Accounting can therefore be defined as 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. In order to appreciate the exact nature of accounting, we must understand the following relevant aspects of the definition:

• Economic Events

• Identification, Measurement, Recording and Communication

• Organisation

• Interested Users of Information

1.1.1 Economic Events

Business organisations involves economic events. An economic event is known as a happening of consequence to a business organisation which consists of transactions and which are measurable in monetary terms. For example, purchase of machinery, installing and keeping it ready for manufacturing is an event which comprises number of financial transactions such as buying a machine, transportation of machine, site preparation for installation of a machine, expenditure incurred on its installation and trial runs. Thus, accounting identifies bunch of transactions relating to an economic event. If an event involves transactions between an outsider and an organisation, these are known as external events. The following are the examples of such transactions:

• Sale of merchandise to the customers.

• Rendering services to the customers by ABC Limited.

• Purchase of materials from suppliers.

• Payment of monthly rent to the landlord.

An internal event is an economic event that occurs entirely between the internal wings of an enterprise, e.g., supply of raw material or components by the stores department to the manufacturing department, payment of wages to the employees, etc.

1.1.2 Identification, Measurement, Recording and Communication

Identification : It means determining what transactions to record, i.e., to identity events which are to be recorded. It involves observing activities and selecting those events that are of considered financial character and relate to the organisation. The business transactions and other economic events therefore are evaluated for deciding whether it has to be recorded in books of account. For example, the value of human resources, changes in managerial policies or appointment of personnel are important but none of these are recorded in books of account. However, when a company makes a sale or purchase, whether on cash or credit, or pays salary it is recorded in the books of account.

Measurement : It means quantification (including estimates) of business transactions into financial terms by using monetary unit, viz. rupees and paise as a measuring unit. If an event cannot be quantified in monetary terms, it is not considered for recording in financial accounts. That is why important items like the appointment of a new managing director, signing of contracts or changes in personnel are not shown in the books of accounts.

Recording : Once the economic events are identified and measured in financial terms, these are recorded in books of account in monetary terms and in a chronological order. Recording is done in a manner that the necessary financial information is summarised as per well-established practice and is made available as and when required.

Communication : The economic events are identified, measured and recorded in order that the pertinent information is generated and communicated in a certain form to management and other internal and external users The information is regularly communicated through accounting reports. These reports provide information that are useful to a variety of users who have an interest in assessing the financial performance and the position of an enterprise, planning and controlling business activities and making necessary decisions from time to time. The accounting information system should be designed in such a way that the right information is communicated to the right person at the right time. Reports can be daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending upon the needs of the users An important element in the communication process is the accountant’s ability and efficiency in presenting the relevant information.

1.1.3 Organisation

Organisation refers to a business enterprise, whether for profit or not-for-profit motive. Depending upon the size of activities and level of business operation, it can be a sole-proprietory concern, partnership firm, cooperative society, company, local authority, municipal corporation or any other association of persons.

1.1.4 Interested Users of Information

Accounting is a means by which necessary financial information about business enterprise is communicated and is also called the language of business. Many users need financial information in order to make important decisions. These users can be divided into two broad categories: internal users and external users Internal users include: Chief Executive, Financial Officer, Vice President, Business Unit Managers, Plant Managers, Store Managers, Line Supervisors, etc. External users include: present and potential Investors (shareholders), Creditors (Banks and other Financial Institutions, Debenture-holders and other Lenders), Tax Authorities, Regulatory Agencies (Department of Company Affairs, Registrar of Companies, Securities Exchange Board of India, Labour Unions, Trade Associations, Stock Exchange and Customers, etc. Since the primary function of accounting is to provide useful information for decision-making, it is a means to an end, with the end being the decision that is helped by the availability of accounting information. You will study about the types of accounting information and its users later in this chapter.

1.2 Accounting as a Source of Information

As discussed earlier, accounting is a definite processes of interlinked activities, (refer figure 1.1) that begins with the identification of transactions and ends with the preparation of financial statements. Every step in the process of accounting generates information. Generation of information is not an end in itself. It is a means to facilitate the dissemination of information among different user groups. Such information enables the interested parties to take appropriate decisions. Therefore, dissemination of information is an essential function of accounting. To be useful, the accounting information should ensure to:

• provide information for making economic decisions;

• serve the users who rely on financial statements as their principal source of information;

• provide information useful for predicting and evaluating the amount, timing and uncertainty of potential cash-flows;

• provide information for judging management’s ability to utilise resources effectively in meeting goals;

• provide factual and interpretative information by disclosing underlying assumptions on matters subject to interpretation, evaluation, prediction, or estimation; and

• provide information on activities affecting the society.

The role of an accountant in generating accounting information is to observe, screen and recognise events and transactions to measure and process them, and thereby compile reports comprising accounting information that are communicated to the users These are then interpreted, decoded and used by management and other user groups. It must be ensured that the information provided is relevant, adequate and reliable for decision-making. The apparently divergent needs of internal and external users of accounting information have resulted in the development of sub-disciplines within the accounting discipline namely, financial accounting, cost accounting and management accounting (refer box 3).

Financial accounting assists keeping a systematic record of financial transactions the preparation and presentation of financial reports in order to arrive at a measure of organisational success and financial soundness. It relates to the past period, serves the stewardship function and is monetary in nature. It is primarily concerned with the provision of financial information to all stakeholders

Cost accounting assists in analysing the expenditure for ascertaining the cost of various products manufactured or services rendered by the firm and fixation of prices thereof. It also helps in controlling the costs and providing necessary costing information to management for decision-making.

Management accounting deals with the provision of necessary accounting information to people within the organisation to enable them in decision-making, planning and controlling business operations. Management accounting draws the relevant information mainly from financial accounting and cost accounting which helps the management in budgeting, assessing profitability, taking pricing decisions, capital expenditure decisions and so on. Besides, it generates other information (quantitative and qualitative, financial and non-financial) which relates to the future and is relevant for decision-making in the organisation. Such information includes: sales forecast, cash flows, purchase requirement, manpower needs, environmental data about effects on air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, human health, social responsibilities, etc.

As a result, the scope of accounting has become so vast, that new areas like human resource accounting, social accounting, responsibility accounting have also gained prominance.

1.2.1 Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information

Qualitative characteristics are the attributes of accounting information which tend to enhance its understandability and usefulness. In order to assess whether accounting information is decision useful, it must possess the characteristics of reliability, relevance, understandability and comparability.

Reliability

Reliability means the users must be able to depend on the information. The reliability of accounting information is determined by the degree of correspondence between what the information conveys about the transactions or events that have occurred, measured and displayed. A reliable information should be free from error and bias and faithfully represents what it is meant to represent. To ensure reliability, the information disclosed must be credible, verifiable by independent parties use the same method of measuring, and be neutral and faithful (refer figure 1.3).

Relevance

To be relevant, information must be available in time, must help in prediction and feedback, and must influence the decisions of users by :

(a) helping them form prediction about the outcomes of past, present or future events; and/or

(b) confirming or correcting their past evaluations.

Understandability

Understandability means decision-makers must interpret accounting information in the same sense as it is prepared and conveyed to them. The qualities that distinguish between good and bad communication in a message are fundamental to the understandability of the message. A message is said to be effectively communicated when it is interpreted by the receiver of the message in the same sense in which the sender has sent. Accountants should present the comparable information in the most intenlligible manner without sacrificing relevance and reliability.

Comparability

It is not sufficient that the financial information is relevant and reliable at a particular time, in a particular circumstance or for a particular reporting entity. But it is equally important that the users of the general purpose financial reports are able to compare various aspects of an entity over different time period and with other entities. To be comparable, accounting reports must belong to a common period and use common unit of measurement and format of reporting.

1.3 Objectives of Accounting

As an information system, the basic objective of accounting is to provide useful information to the interested group of users, both external and internal. The necessary information, particularly in case of external users, is provided in the form of financial statements, viz., profit and loss account and balance sheet. Besides these, the management is provided with additional information from time to time from the accounting records of business. Thus, the primary objectives of accounting include the following:

1.3.1 Maintenance of Records of Business Transactions

Accounting is used for the maintenance of a systematic record of all financial transactions in book of accounts. Even the most brilliant executive or manager cannot accurately remember the numerous amount of varied transactions such as purchases, sales, receipts, payments, etc. that takes place in business everyday. Hence, a proper and complete records of all business transactions are kept regularly. Moreover, the recorded information enables verifiability and acts as an evidence.

1.3.2 Calculation of Profit and Loss

The owners of business are keen to have an idea about the net results of their business operations periodically, i.e. whether the business has earned profits or incurred losses. Thus, another objective of accounting is to ascertain the profit earned or loss sustained by a business during an accounting period which can be easily workout with help of record of incomes and expenses relating to the business by preparing a profit or loss account for the period. Profit represents excess of revenue (income), over expenses. If the total revenue of a given period is ₹ 6,00,000 and total expenses are ₹ 5,40,000 the profit will be equal to ₹ 60,000(rs 6,00,000 – ₹ 5,40,000). If however, the total expenses exceed the total revenue, the difference reflects the loss.

1.3.3 Depiction of Financial Position

Accounting also aims at ascertaining the financial position of the business concern in the form of its assets and liabilities at the end of every accounting period. A proper record of resources owned by business organisation (Assets) and claims against such resources (Liabilities) facilitates the preparation of a statement known as balance sheet position statement.

1.3.4 Providing Accounting Information to its Users

The accounting information generated by the accounting process is communicated in the form of reports, statements, graphs and charts to the users who need it in different decision situations. As already stated, there are two main user groups, viz. internal users, mainly management, who needs timely information on cost of sales, profitability, etc. for planning, controlling and decision-making and external users who have limited authority, ability and resources to obtain the necessary information and have to rely on financial statements (Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss account). Primarily, the external users are interested in the following:

• Investors and potential investors-information on the risks and return on investment;

• Unions and employee groups-information on the stability, profitability and distribution of wealth within the business;

• Lenders and financial institutions-information on the creditworthiness of the company and its ability to repay loans and pay interest;

• Suppliers and creditors-information on whether amounts owed will be repaid when due, and on the continued existence of the business;

• Customers-information on the continued existence of the business and thus the probability of a continued supply of products, parts and after sales service;

• Government and other regulators- information on the allocation of resources and the compliance to regulations;

• Social responsibility groups, such as environmental groups-information on the impact on environment and its protection;

• Competitors-information on the relative strengths and weaknesses of their competition and for comparative and benchmarking purposes. Whereas the above categories of users share in the wealth of the company, competitors require the information mainly for strategic purposes.

1.4 Role of Accounting

For centuries, the role of accounting has been changing with the changes in economic development and increasing societal demands. It describes and analyses a mass of data of an enterprise through measurement, classification and summarisation, and reduces those date into reports and statements, which show the financial condition and results of operations of that enterprise. Hence, it is regarded as a language of business. It also performs the service activity by providing quantitative financial information that helps the users in various ways. Accounting as an information system collects and communicates economic information about an enterprise to a wide variety of interested parties. However, accounting information relates to the past transactions and is quantitative and financial in nature, it does not provide qualitative and non-financial information. These limitations of accounting must be kept in view while making use of the accounting information.