Saturday, July 30, 2011

Accounting

You business is judged by the transparency of you accounts. You if your accounts are all laid out in a clear manner without tax evasions and loans then the net worth of you business goes up automatically. Hence it is imperative to hire a very good set of accountants. Most of the major companies take help from accounting consultancy firms. Hence the business of such accountancy firms is also growing rapidly. The process of accounting is highly specialized and requires highly trained personnel. Therefore accountants are in demand all over the world and they play a vital role in global economy.

New Accounting policies Taken by India

In a step to drive out corruption from the country, the government of India recently undertook several pointers in order that the companies maintain a proper accounts book and if it has subsidiaries in different fields, it is necessary that the accounts of these subsidiaries be included in the balance sheet of the mother company as well. This was done in light of the events leading up to the Rs 176,000 crore telecom scam that highlighted how companies used loopholes in the policy of the government and floated companies as a front to acquire business. But with the policies and new methods of accounting, there is every hope that it will be able to stem corruption somewhat.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Accounting Scandals

Every now and then a financial scandal comes into limelight. More often than not the person instrumental in bringing off the misappropriation of funds is the accountant. No financial scandal can ever be possible if the accountant is not taken in to confidence. Hence the accountants of major companies are always under the scrutiny. It is also common that the accountant is made the scapegoat if the scandal is somehow exposed. Hence it is very important for a business firm to have a very honest accountant whose background is thoroughly checked before handing him over the important task to managing the accounts.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

American Businesses and Black Money

In the United States of America recently, there was a law passed for the proper maintenance of accounts by business concerns. This was seen as an attempt by the Obama government to control the flow of black money that is being siphoned by foreign industrialists as well as criminals to American firms in order to keep their balance sheets in check. But these firms in America are using this money to run their businesses without properly accounting for the source of the capital and as a result, the administration hopes that this new circular will limit the use of illegal sources of income for these business concerns.

Accounting Made Easy

Previously, accounting was done manually. But, with development of science and technology, various accounting softwares are available in the market. In a business farm, it is very essential to manage the account. Proper accounting helps to track the business. The loss and profit of the business must be tracked regularly, in order to prosper the particular business. Previously maintaining accounts of the company was a boring and lengthy job. But, now the computer softwares have reduced the labour of the accountant. All they need is to learn the manual of the respective software. In 21st century, computer learning is must for every individual. The accounting software reduces the labour and can perform work in a very short time span. Tally is one of the popular accounting software.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Forensic accounting

An interesting field of forensics has branched out and this one relates to the monetary system. Whit the heavy rise in the system of monetary transactions these days there has to be regulative body that would keep a tab on the inflow and the out flow of money. This branch is called forensic accounting.
The primary function of this structure is to regulate the engagements that results in some sort of dispute or litigation on the basis of hard factual references or through anticipation. The people employed under it are called forensic auditors or forensic accountants and their job is to give expert evidences on the date of the trail pertaining to the case of forgery or fraud.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Tips on How to Select to the Most Effective Accounting Degree

Firstly, you must select a trustful accounting school like one’s which are backed by a strong reputation. Secondly, you must select the kind of teaching environment you will be suitable to. This depends on whether you prefer an online accounting course or standard, regular classes in an educational facility. Thirdly, you must think ahead of the present, you must think of the future. Once you conclude your accounting course and receive an official accounting degree, you would want to pursue higher education in the accounting field of study.
To add it all up, to attain the most effective accounting degree you must possess information on the finest accounting colleges to attend and along with that all the new developments occurring in the accounting field.

Growing Demand of Financial Advisors

Nowadays financial advisors are found in abundance. All that one needs to do in order to become a financial advisor is to at least attain the bachelor’s degree, preferably in the field of accounts and finance. The degree helps one to get the basic knowledge about finance and what are the pros and cons of this field, through the teachings of experts. The financial advisor has to identify the untamed situations, find analysis on them and then recommend the solutions to the business firm. It is not an easy task, as the slightest mistakes might cause huge loses in monetary terms.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The importance of a Budget

A budget is an essential factor when planning the financial statement of a company or even for the country. For a smooth running in the operational activities of the company or the country, the budget is required for a standard knowledge of the funds requirements. The time span of the budget is maintained so as to help maximize the profits for that span of time. It shows the paths to various investment procedures and other gains from the various finances. The budget is usually delivered through the internet or television, so as to allow the people to have an overview of the financial estimate.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

IFRS

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of principles-based standards and interpretations which have been adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The accounting methods and standards used prior to the IFRS were categorized under the International Accounting Standards (IAS). In India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) has announced that the adoption of IFRS in the tabulation of accounts would be made mandatory for financial statements prepared for accounting periods beginning on or after 2011. This has been a revolutionary step in the world at large, and India in particular. The IFRS is another attempt to standardize accounting procedures all over the world.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Accountancy- Past and Present

The seemingly boring accountant’s job is one of paramount importance in all fields of business. Keeping accounts dates back to almost 7000 years ago in Mesopotamia where the earliest traces of accounts have been found. Accountancy forms an integral part of all business and accountants are in demand all over the world. Not only is the job demanding, but also very lucrative. Financial Accountants are highly paid and highly sort after. From the early days of Vedic, Islamic and Roman era, accountancy has come a long way. Business firms from Microsoft to McDonald’s nobody can function without proper bookkeeping and inventory management.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Is Accounting Really an Art?

Accounting, a word synonymous to men and women in formals of the highest order, lots of ledgers and registers, a calculator (for obvious reasons) and a personal computer. Is it an art? Well, if you look at it from a perspective where these brave souls, or accountants, are endowed with the responsibility of maintaining every minuscule detail about millions of dollars worth of assets and business then it truly does seem justifiably definable as a form of art. Accounting has gained immense value in today’s times. It has always been like that actually. You see, it takes time for art to be appreciated. The older it is the more value and pricey it becomes.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Financial Accounting-An Overview

Accountancy consists of many fields. One of the most lucrative ones is financial accounting.
It is concerned with the creation of financial statements for stockholders, government agencies, banks, employees and other decision makers. It is concerned with maintaining finance, the records of which can be maintained in regular monetary units, or constant purchasing power units. Financial accountancy is used to provide financial statements to those people that are not within the organization.
To summarize, this field of accounting is involved in gathering information about the financial dealings of a company, and provide them to the outside world for their benefit.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Importance of Night Auditors in a Hotel

Night auditor is a person who is responsible for all the account folios handling and its procedural checking. The night auditor of a hotel checks the guest ledger which is the total account receivable by the hotel from the in house guests. His job is so important as he ensure accuracy of the total transaction of the day by the hotel and the required paper work is gathered to complete the process of night auditing. The night audit also takes care of the taxes that are owed to the hotel facilities on the day of tax clearance of each year.

Without Accounts One’s Profit Margin Is Undefined

Accounting is a concept that is utilised by every individual as well as business organization is some form or the other knowingly or unknowingly, in order to keep a track of the expenses incurred and the income earned by them. Accounting is an art used to analyze the data and interpret them accordingly. Whether one agrees or not but accounting is an essential tool for every business firm irrespective of whether they are big or small. Without keeping a track about the expenses one will never be able to derive the profit and income they are making.

Without Accounts One’s Profit Margin Is Undefined

Accounting is a concept that is utilised by every individual as well as business organization is some form or the other knowingly or unknowingly, in order to keep a track of the expenses incurred and the income earned by them. Accounting is an art used to analyze the data and interpret them accordingly. Whether one agrees or not but accounting is an essential tool for every business firm irrespective of whether they are big or small. Without keeping a track about the expenses one will never be able to derive the profit and income they are making.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Job Description of an Accountant

An accountant’s job is to handle all types of matter regarding the finance of the company. This includes works like processing and reviewing financial data for expenditures, revenue and other financial transactions, analyzing balances, reconciles, maintaining proper records of all the transactions for future use, etc. An accountant ensures accuracy, completeness and compliance with federal and provincial requirements and standard accounting and auditing procedures. For a small business an accountant is the person who deals with the distribution, calculation, reviewing, processing, editing and analyzing RSP, provident funds, pension funds, VRS and various other employee benefits.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Role of internal auditors

Among the range of various auditors and accountants, the internal auditors have a significant role to play in the working of an organization. The internal auditors of a company look out for mismanagement in the company’s working. They take into account any kind of wastage done, frauds made or misuse of products. They even make sure that the various accounts of the company are in accordance and are accurate as per the company records. Along with all this, they even review the company operations, evaluate effectiveness and check out whether the functions follow governmental policies. The last of their working calls for recommendations to clear up any disorders.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Accounting for every homemaker

Accounting is a necessary task not only for business firms or other establishments, but it is a job of utmost importance even for a homemaker. For a house to function smoothly, a homemaker must know where the money is going and how exactly it is being spent. Every home has to have a budget, according to which it can run, and the family's needs catered to. Therefore, funds need to be allocated and spent judiciously so as to make sure that the home's budget is not a complete failure. It is also necessary to see that basic needs are met before going on to take care of luxury items.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

BENEFITS OF BEING AN ACCOUNTANT

Taking up accounts as your majoring subject can open doors of success for you. The demand for accountants have risen with time as which business would not want an efficient accountant to manage their finances. Accounting is a language of business. Accounting is the medium to know the current position of the business. It also helps the entrepreneurs to make the necessary changes for increasing the profit. An accountant has many duties like he has to analyze the company budget, mange a record of the income and expenditures, audit the financial books, and keep a track of bank accounts and investments. In a nutshell being an accountant is a good career option which has definite possibilities for success.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Where is the money?

Chinese businesses have heaved huge piles of cash in IPOs; however they frequently have slight use for it since the business makes all they require. Consequently, cash is repeatedly the main item on the balance sheet. From an auditor’s viewpoint, cash is the simplest and scariest asset to check.


Audit actions for cash are constructed around the sovereign authentication. The auditor sends a confirmation to the bank, which replies validating the balance. This work is frequently done by the most subordinate of staff, as it is simple, but it can effect in stunning audit malfunctions if it is not prepared right. Confirmations are easily forged in China, therefore many much is lost.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Accounting Blogs Highlights the Improvements Needed for Better Functioning

Due to the widespread of the internet the one of the sectors that has been really booming in the recent time is the accounting blogs. It is a huge platform for the accounting firms to display their expertise to their clients and in return earn the client’s confidence in them. These blogs provide the clients with tips and advices on accounting, that too free of cost. The valuable information provided in the accounting blogs benefit the firms with many clients. The more blogging is done the easier it gets for the clients to locate their desirable accounting firms and hence their potential as well as prospects get highlighted.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Accountant job description

Accounting involves maintaining proper records of financial operations for businesses as well as for individuals. Accountants’ job involves filling out tax forms and filing for tax returns, among other things.
Most accountants work for private firms and the government. A small portion is self-employed. An accountant could be either a tax accountant or a forensic accountant. They generally are employed to make sure that their employers have paid proper taxes and reported their profits, or otherwise, properly. Other than that, they might also be asked to provide investment planning, budget creation and certain legal services. Their services are called upon as and when their employer deems fit.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Islamic accounting

The Qur’an talks about accountancy in the sense that every human follower of Islam is meant to count his doings and maintain a record of it so as to be able to present it to God. The Qur’an even provides guidelines that are needed to be followed so as to maintain the right pattern of recording. The Islamic Law of Inheritance is the most crucial part of accounting in Islam; it is believed that the entire estate of the person after his/her death is to be equally distributed to each and every member of the family. Accounting in ancient times had many implications and the most knowledgeable people had laid specific paths to be followed as to the accounting of the estate of an individual and its measurement. Although only a marginal amount of people still follow it, every part of the Qur’an is still considered as sacred.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Accounting--meaning

The exchange of information with regards to finance of a business or firm with its managers and shareholders is known as accountancy. There are three divisions of accountancy’s principles that are; accounting, auditing and book keeping. Accounting has been around for over 7000 years and was first seen in Mesopotamia. It was used to maintain records of the grain, cattle and crops. Accounting is a vital part of a business now and without it a business cannot function. It helps the company keep a close and in depth eye on the working of the firm and prevents any misuse of the money of the business.

E-Accounting

Those days are long gone when people maintained ledgers to keep track of their business. It’s all done with the help of highly advanced software.
By definition, accounting software is application software that is used to record and process data about transactions and payments. They contain various modules to deal with different portions of accounting, such as receiving and making payments to and from clients, paying their employees, etc. While some software is developed by the company itself, most companies choose to use generic software which has been customized to their needs. It works out to be a cheaper alternative, since developing a full blown software is expensive, both in terms of money and time.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Accounting fraud

The American Institute of Certified public accountants define “accounting” 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”. To put it simply, this activity involves logging of financial data, and analyzing the trends to predict future business outcomes.

Of late, many well known companies such as Sunbeam and Enron Corporation have been found guilty of financial fraud, causing companies to review their accounting standards, and auditing techniques. The Enron Scandal was the direct cause of the passing of a new act, the Sabranes-Oxley act, which severely increases the penalty an organization must incur, when it is found guilty of fraudulent behavior.

Imperative Accounting: For every business

Accounting makes a business run smoother. It is the most efficient way of running a business and without which a business house will just be a center of chaos. Accounting enables the authority to keep its workers records, record it financial advancement, the incoming and outgoing of the business, the remunerations of its workers- most importantly it records the financial position of the business house.
This knowledge becomes very important because based on the financial status of a firm, the authority decides its future plans and policies. Accounting also keeps the businessman updated about the latest trends and policies in the market. It is with this knowledge that the particular firm makes flexible changes to cope up more efficiently.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Accounting: essential for every business

Accounting is not a choice but a necessity for every business irrespective of its size. Accounting is basically recording, classifying, analyzing and reporting the financial data of a firm. Every firm, be it big or small needs their money to be managed in order to keep a track of their capital. Some people decide to do the accounting chores all by themselves and while some other hire professionals to do the same. Modern day accounting tasks can also be done with the help of accounting software. This software can easily be found in the market. There are many different kinds of accounting which depends on the size and structure of the group that is using it. In all, any business will cease to exist without the helping hand of accounting.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Working Capital turnover ratio

What is the difference between a Working Capital turnover ratio and inventory turnover ratio in accounting? Working capital turnover ratio indicates a company’s effectiveness in using its working capital (total amount of current assets) it is also referred to as net sales to working capital

The average working capital is drawn by adding the beginning amount to ending working capital then dividing by two. Working capital is equal to the difference between current assets and current liabilities:

Roster turnover quotient is a ratio that processes how operative a corporation is laying its inventory resources to work generating sales. A low revenue percentage may indicate that a firm is carrying obsolete goods in inventory or its speculation in account is extreme.

Monday, March 7, 2011

What Is Accounting?

Accounting and working in an office environment go hand in hand. Without accounting, no one would get paid, and no one would receive a bill for services rendered. But that is not everything that has to do with accounting. They watch profits, expenses and more importantly, when a company is losing profits. Unless you run your own business, you need accountants to tell you where your business is financially.

Accounting can be as simple as balancing a checkbook. Every child faces accounting situations in their life, from saving their allowances, to spending their allowances, and everything in between. This is accounting.

How is accounting crucial to other types of business? Farmers succeed or fail with accounting. Farms are based upon borrowing money to plant, and paying it back with the harvest. Accounting tracks whether there was enough crops in the year to pay back the loan, or whether the farmer needs to carry that loan over to the next year, where accounting starts all over again, this time with interest.

Accounting keeps us out of financial trouble, whether we are a business or a household. If you don't know how much you are bringing in, how much you are spending, how much is going out, things could get extremely ugly. This lack of accounting practices can lead to unnecessary fees and charges.

Bottom line, accounting is information. This information forms the balance sheet, the profit and loss statement, and the income statement.