Mia Joyce R.

Panesa
BSA-2A

SOCIAL SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY

Anthropology’s Relevance to Accountancy:

According to the American Anthropological Association, anthropology is the study

of what makes us human. It takes a broad approach to understand the many different
aspects of the human experience. Anthropologists consider the past, through
archaeology, to see how human groups lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and
what was important to them. They consider what makes up our biological bodies and
genetics, as well as our bones, diet, and health.

Anthropologists also compare humans with other animals to see what we have in
common with them and what makes us unique. Even though nearly all humans need
the same things to survive, like food or water, the means or ways of people to meet
these needs can be very different. For example, everyone needs to eat, but people eat
different foods and get food in different ways. So anthropologists look at how different
groups of people get food, prepare it, and share it.

Accountancy on the other hand, is the practice of recording, classifying, and

reporting on business transactions for a business. It provides feedback to management
regarding the financial results and status of an organization.

Also, just like how anthropologists uses past information, accountants also study
information retroactively to come up with a financial report or statement, that that will
help them in the next accounting period as past information or the historical costs are
very material in every business to see, for example, if the business should invest a new
plant or property, if it will incur a profit or loss, or just needed to be liquidated. Both uses
past information for faithful representation and relevant information for the organization.
 The information above, in my understanding, are relevant to each other as it both
study all the different aspects of human (in anthropology’s case) and business (in
accountancy). Accountants not just study, give feedbacks and disclose the financial
aspects to the organization but also helps the management in every decision-making.

Also, anthropology have different subfields and one of these is Business

Anthropology. Professors at Wayne State University define this as applying
anthropological theories and practices to the needs of private sector organizations,
especially in industrial firms. In short, business anthropology is a practice-oriented field
in which anthropologists apply anthropological theories and methods to identify and
solve real business problems in everyday life. With the use of this knowledge, discipline
and research methodology to figure out human behavior, is a great help in every
organizations as it allows them to understand what the customers want or need. Putting
human behaviour at the centre of marketing research allows a business to develop a
deeper understanding of the needs that have to be met, the needs that may be unmet,
or those that are not even articulated.

Sources:
https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/what-is-accountancy.html#:~:text=Accountancy%20is%20the
%20practice%20of,accountancy%20tasks%20are%20noted%20below.
https://www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2150
https://www.bu.edu/anthrop/undergraduate/internship-opportunities/business-anthropology/

https://financialpost.com/executive/0808-biz-mb-anthropology