accounting n
1. a convincing explanation that reveals basic causes; "he was unable to give a clear accounting for his actions"
2. a system that provides quantitative information about finances
3. the occupation of maintaining and auditing records and preparing financial reports for a business [syn: accountancy]
4. a bookkeeper's chronological list of related debits and credits of a business; forms part of a ledger of accounts [syn: accounting system, method of accounting]
5. a statement of recent transactions and the resulting balance; "they send me an accounting every month" [syn: account, account statement]

Account \Ac*count"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Accounted; p. pr. & vb. n. Accounting.] [OE. acounten, accompten, OF. aconter, [`a] (L. ad) + conter to count. F. conter to tell, compter to count, L. computare. See Count, v. t.]
1. To reckon; to compute; to count. [Obs.] The motion of . . . the sun whereby years are accounted. --Sir T. Browne.
2. To place to one's account; to put to the credit of; to assign; -- with to. [R.] --Clarendon.
3. To value, estimate, or hold in opinion; to judge or consider; to deem. Accounting that God was able to raise him up. --Heb. xi. 19.
4. To recount; to relate. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

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Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers.

Accounting is defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as "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 financial character, and interpreting the results thereof."

Accounting is thousands of years old; the earliest accounting records, which date back more than 7,000 years, were found in the Middle East. The people of that time relied on primitive accounting methods to record the growth of crops and herds. Accounting evolved, improving over the years and advancing as business advanced.

Early accounts served mainly to assist the memory of the businessperson and the audience for the account was the proprietor or record keeper alone. Cruder forms of accounting were inadequate for the problems created by a business entity involving multiple investors, so double-entry bookkeeping first emerged in northern Italy in the 14th century, where trading ventures began to require more capital than a single individual was able to invest. The development of joint stock companies created wider audiences for accounts, as investors without firsthand knowledge of their operations relied on accounts to provide the requisite information.

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