accounting

[uh-koun-ting] /əˈkaʊn tɪŋ/
noun
1.
the theory and system of setting up, maintaining, and auditing the books of a firm; art of analyzing the financial position and operating results of a business house from a study of its sales, purchases, overhead, etc. (distinguished from bookkeeping).
2.
a detailed report of the financial state or transactions of a person or entity:
an accounting of the estate.
3.
the rendering or submission of such a report.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English; see account, -ing1
Can be confused
accounting, bookkeeping, finance(s)

account

[uh-kount] /əˈkaʊnt/
noun
1.
an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative:
an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.
2.
an explanatory statement of conduct, as to a superior.
3.
a statement of reasons, causes, etc., explaining some event.
4.
reason; basis:
On this account I'm refusing your offer.
5.
importance; worth; value; consequence:
things of no account.
6.
estimation; judgment:
In his account it was an excellent piece of work.
7.
an amount of money deposited with a bank, as in a checking or savings account:
My account is now with Third National.
8.
Also called charge account. an accommodation or service extended by a business to a customer or client permitting the charging of goods or services, the returning for credit of unsatisfactory merchandise, etc.:
Do you have an account at this store? My account with the restaurant is past due.
9.
a statement of financial transactions.
10.
Bookkeeping.
  1. a formal record of the debits and credits relating to the person, business, etc., named at the head of the ledger account.
  2. a balance of a specified period's receipts and expenditures.
11.
Commerce.
  1. a business relation in which credit is used.
  2. any customer or client, especially one carried on a regular credit basis.
  3. Also called advertising account. the business assigned to an advertising agency by a client:
    The toothpaste account was awarded to a new agency last year.
verb (used without object)
12.
to give an explanation (usually followed by for):
to account for the accident.
13.
to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually followed by for):
to account for the missing typewriters.
14.
to provide a report on money received, kept, and spent.
15.
to cause (usually followed by for):
The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.
verb (used with object)
16.
to regard; consider as:
I account myself well paid.
17.
to assign or impute (usually followed by to):
the many virtues accounted to him.
Idioms
18.
call to account,
  1. to hold accountable; blame; reprimand:
    Call them to account for having endangered their lives.
  2. ask for an explanation of.
19.
give a good / bad account of, to do something or conduct oneself in a good (bad, etc.) manner:
She gave a good account of herself in the tennis tournament.
20.
hold to account, to hold responsible; hold accountable or culpable:
If any of the silver is missing, I'm going to hold you to account.
21.
on account, as an installment or a partial payment:
I can't pay the balance, but here's $10 on account.
22.
on account of,
  1. by reason of; because of.
  2. for the sake of:
    She saw it through on account of me.
23.
on all accounts, in any case; under any circumstances.
Also, at all accounts.
24.
on no account, under no circumstances; absolutely not:
On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.
25.
take account of,
  1. to make allowance for; consider:
    One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.
  2. to notice or observe.
Also, take into account.
26.
turn to account, to derive profit or use from; turn to advantage:
She has turned her misfortunes to account.
Origin
1225-75; (noun) Middle English a(c)ount(e), ac(c)ompte < Anglo-French, Old French aco(u)nte, acompte; (v.) Middle English ac(co)unten < Old French acunter, acompter. See ac-, count1
Related forms
preaccount, verb
subaccount, noun
unaccounted, adjective
Synonyms
1. report, chronicle. See narrative. 2. justification. 5. import, significance. 6. consideration.
Examples from the web for accounting
  • The same back-end billing and accounting software can be exploited to handle all of these accounts.
  • Experience in teaching at all levels of auditing and financial accounting.
  • Project-based accounting provides the ability to track financial performance at the project-level.
  • In the next step, the possible malfunction accounting for the optical phenomena is noted.
  • The political lynching of truth-telling in accounting is gathering steam.
  • As a condition of the grant, you are required to provide an accounting of moneys spent.
  • Furthermore, some of the tests of the cats' behavior may not have given an accurate accounting of the cats' personality.
  • Though there's no accounting for the former, those codes may soon be gone.
  • However, any measure based on book value has to get over the fact that accounting measures are not carved in stone.
  • Aspiring doctors are not normally taught microeconomics, cost accounting or risk management.
British Dictionary definitions for accounting

accounting

/əˈkaʊntɪŋ/
noun
1.
  1. the skill or practice of maintaining and auditing accounts and preparing reports on the assets, liabilities, etc, of a business
  2. (as modifier): an accounting period, accounting entity

account

/əˈkaʊnt/
noun
1.
a verbal or written report, description, or narration of some occurrence, event, etc
2.
an explanation of conduct, esp one made to someone in authority
3.
ground; basis; consideration (often in the phrases on this (that, every, no, etc) account, on account of)
4.
importance, consequence, or value: of little account
5.
assessment; judgment
6.
profit or advantage: to turn an idea to account
7.
part or behalf (only in the phrase on one's or someone's account)
8.
(finance)
  1. a business relationship between a bank, department store, stockbroker, etc, and a depositor, customer, or client permitting the latter certain banking or credit services
  2. the sum of money deposited at a bank
  3. the amount of credit available to the holder of an account
  4. a record of these
9.
a statement of monetary transactions with the resulting balance
10.
(on the London Stock Exchange) the period, ordinarily of a fortnight's duration, in which transactions formerly took place and at the end of which settlements were made
11.
(accounting) a chronological list of debits and credits relating to a specified asset, liability, expense, or income of a business and forming part of the ledger
12.
  1. a regular client or customer, esp a firm that purchases commodities on credit
  2. an area of business assigned to another: they transferred their publicity account to a new agent
13.
call to account, bring to account
  1. to insist on explanation
  2. to rebuke; reprimand
  3. to hold responsible
14.
give a bad account of oneself, to perform badly: he gave a bad account of himself in the examination
15.
give a good account of oneself, to perform well
16.
on account
  1. on credit
  2. Also to account. as partial payment
17.
(preposition) on account of, because of; by reason of
18.
take account of, take into account, to take into consideration; allow for
19.
settle accounts with, square accounts with
  1. to pay or receive a balance due
  2. to get revenge on (someone)
20.
See bank account, credit account
verb
21.
(transitive) to consider or reckon: he accounts himself poor
Word Origin
C13: from Old French acont, from conter, compter to count1
Word Origin and History for accounting
n.

"reckoning of numbers," late 14c., verbal noun from account (v.). Phrase no accounting for tastes (1823) translates Latin de gustibus non est disputandum.

account

n.

c.1300, "reckoning of money received and paid," from Old French acont "account, reckoning, terminal payment," from a "to" (see ad-) + cont "counting, reckoning of money to be paid," from Late Latin computus "a calculation," from Latin computare "calculate" (see compute).

Meaning "sum of (one's) money in a bank" is from 1833. Sense of "narration" is first attested 1610s. Plural accounts used as a collective or singular in phrases such as to give accounts (of something), is from mid-13c. Phrase by all accounts is attested from 1798.

v.

c.1300, "to count, enumerate," from Old French aconter "to count, render account" (Modern French conter), from a "to" (see ad-) + conter "to count, tell" (see count (v.)). Meaning "to reckon for money given or received, render a reckoning," is from late 14c.; sense of "to explain" (c.1710) is from notion of "answer for money held in trust." Transferred sense of "value" is from late 14c. Related: Accounted; accounting.

accounting in Culture

accounting definition


The system of recording and auditing business transactions. (See audit.)

Slang definitions & phrases for accounting

accounting

Related Terms

creative accounting


account

Related Terms

no-account


Idioms and Phrases with accounting

account

In addition to the idiom beginning with
account
also see: