Английский язык для студентов заочной формы обучения - страница 7

Once identified, the economic events (called transactions by accountants) must be measured in financial terms, that is quantified in dollars and cents.

If the event cannot be quantified in monetary terms, it is not considered part of the company's financial information system. The measurement function thereby eliminates some significant events (such as an appointment of a new company president) because they lack measurability in financial terms.

Once measured in dollars and cents, the events are recorded to provide a permanent history of the financial activities of the organization. Recording consists of keeping a chronological diary of measured events in an orderly and systematic order. In recording, the accountant also classifies and summarizes these events.

Тext В. The Development of Accounting Thought

Accounting has a long history. Some scholars claim that writing arose in order to record accounting information. Account records date back to the ancient civilization of China, Babylonia, Greece, and Egypt. The rulers of these civilization used accounting to keep track of the cost of labor and materials used in building structures like the great pyramids.

Accounting developed further as a result of the information needs of merchants in the city-states of Italy during 1400s. In that commercial climate the monk Luca Pacioli, a mathematician and friend of Leonardo da Vinci, published the first known description of double-entry book – keeping in 1494.

The pace of accounting development increased during the Industrial Revolution as the economies of developed countries began to massproduce goods. Until that time, merchandise had been priced based on managers' hunches about cost, but increased competition required merchants to adopt more sophisticated accounting systems.

In the nineteenth century, the growth of corporations, especially those in the railroad and steel industries, spurred the development of accounting. Corporation owners, the stock holders-were no longer necessarily managers of their business. Managers had to create accounting systems to report to the owners how well their businesses were doing.

The role of government has led to still more accounting developments. When the federal government started the income tax, accounting supplied the concept of "Income". Also, government at all levels has assumed expanded roles in health, education, labor, and economic planning. To ensure that the information that it uses to make decisions is reliable, the government has required strict accountability in business community.

Text C. Communication

This identifying, measuring and recording activity is meaningless unless the information is communicated to interested users. The information is communicated through the preparation and distribution of accounting reports, the most common of which are called financial statements. To make the reported financial information meaningful, accountants describe and report the recorded data in a standartized manner. Such data are said to be reported in the aggregate.

Accountants report financial information on a periodic basis, that is, at regular intervals. The frequency of communicating varies according to the needs of the user and the nature of the information reported. For example, the company's treasurer may request daily reports of cash, the sales manager may require weekly reports of sales, and the president may desire monthly reports of operations as a whole. In contrast, annual statements of financial position and results of operations may be suffice for investors and governmental agencies.