Accounting - Answers the process of capturing, identifying, measuring, and reporting a company's
financial transactions.
Accurate and timely financial information is important to businesses such as GE for two reasons: -
Answers First, it helps managers and owners plan and control a company's operations and make
informed business decisions. Second, it helps outsiders evaluate a business. Suppliers, banks, and other
parties want to know whether a business is creditworthy; shareholders and other investors are
concerned with its profit potential; and government agencies are interested in its tax accounting.
Financial accounting - Answers is concerned with preparing financial statements and other information
for outsiders such as stockholders and creditors (people or organizations that have lent a company
money or have extended its credit)
management accounting - Answers is concerned with preparing cost analyses, profitability reports,
budgets, and other information for insiders such as management and other company decision-makers.
What Accountants Do - Answers Accountants prepare financial statements, analyze and interpret
financial information, prepare financial forecasts and budgets, and prepare tax returns.
Private accountants - Answers work for corporations, government agencies, and not-for-profit
organizations.
controller - Answers who reports to the vice president of finance or the chief financial officer
certified public accountants (CPAs) - Answers professionally licensed accountants who meet certain
requirements for education and experience and who pass a comprehensive examination
public accountants - Answers professionals who provide accounting services to other businesses and
individuals for a fee
audit - Answers formal examination of financial records
generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) - Answers standards and practices used by publicly held
corporations in the US and a few other countries in the preparation of financial statements.
external auditors - Answers independent accounting firms that provide auditing services for public
companies
internal auditors - Answers employees who investigate and evaluate the organization's internal
operations and data to determine whether they are accurate and whether they comply with GAAP,
federal laws, and industry regulations.
international financial reporting standards (IFRS) - Answers Accounting standards and practices used in
many countries outside the United States
, Sarbanes-Oxley - Answers the informal name of comprehensive legislation designed to improve the
integrity and accountability of financial information
Assets - Answers are valuable items companies own or lease, such as equipment, cash, land, buildings,
inventory, and investments.
Liabilities - Answers what the business owes to its creditors—such as lenders and suppliers
Owner's Equity - Answers the portion of company's assets that belong to the owner after obligations to
all creditors has been met.
Owner's Equity Equation - Answers Assets - Liabilities = Owner's Equity
Accounting Equation - Answers Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity
double-entry bookkeeping - Answers system that records every transaction affecting assets, liabilities, or
owners' equity.
matching principle - Answers requires that expenses incurred in producing revenues be deducted from
(matched to, in other words) the revenue they generated during the same accounting period
accrual basis - Answers states that revenue is recognized when a company makes the sale, not when it
gets paid.
cash basis - Answers an accounting method in which revenue is recorded when payment is received and
an expense is recorded when cash is paid
depreciation - Answers spreads the cost of a tangible long-term asset over a period of time.
closing the books - Answers transferring net revenue and expense account balances to retained earnings
for the period
balance sheet or statement of financial position - Answers is a snapshot of a company's financial position
on a particular date
calendar year - Answers Accounting period that begins on January 1 and ends on December 31.
fiscal year - Answers A fiscal period consisting of 12 consecutive months.
Current assets - Answers include cash and other items that will or can become cash within the following
year, such as short-term investments like money-market funds and accounts receivable (amounts due
from customers)
Fixed assets - Answers (sometimes referred to as property, plant, and equipment) are long-term
investments in buildings, equipment, furniture and fixtures, transportation equipment, land, and other
tangible property used in running the business. Fixed assets have a useful life of more than one year.
current liabilities - Answers liabilities due within a short time, usually within a year