Accounting or Accountancy is the measurement, processing and communication of fi

nancial information about economic entities.[1][2] It was established by the Ita

lian mathematician Luca Pacioli, in 1494.[3] Accounting, which has been called t
he "language of business",[4] measures the results of an organization's economic
activities and conveys this information to a variety of users including investo
rs, creditors, management, and regulators.[5] Practitioners of accounting are kn
own as accountants. The terms accounting and financial reporting are often used
as synonyms.
Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, ma
nagement accounting, auditing, and tax accounting.[6][7] Financial accounting fo
cuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information, including the
preparation of financial statements, to external users of the information, such
as investors, regulators and suppliers;[8] and management accounting focuses on
the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by mana
gement.[1][8] The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the
financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of wh
ich double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system.[9]
Accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters,
accounting firms and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audit
ed by accounting firms,[10] and are prepared in accordance with generally accept
ed accounting principles (GAAP).[8] GAAP is set by various standard-setting orga
nizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United
States[1] and the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom.[11] As of 2
012, "all major economies" have plans to converge towards or adopt the Internati
onal Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).[12]