What are the differences between account and accounting?

In accounting, an account is a record in the Ledger that is used to sort and store
transactions. For example, companies will have a Cash account in which to record every
transaction that increases or decreases the company's cash. Another account, Sales, will collect
all the amounts from the sale of merchandise. Most accounting systems require that every
transaction will affect two or more accounts. For example, a cash sale will increase the Cash
account and will increase the Sales account.

The term account is also used in transactions where suppliers sell goods to customers and
grant credit terms such as net 10 days. In those situations, a supplier is selling goods on account
and the customer has purchased goods on account. The supplier has also increased the balance in
its current Asset account entitled Accounts Receivable and the customer will increase the
balance in its Current Liability account entitled Accounts Payable.

Accounting meanings process of keeping or maintaining financial records/Books of

Accounts, while Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a
business entity to users such as shareholders and managers.1 The communication is generally in
the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the
control of management; the art lies in selecting the information that is relevant to the user and is
reliable.
List a purpose of accounting for each organization.

- RECORDING TRANSACTIONS- The primary role of accounting is to maintain a

systematic, accurate and complete record of all financial transactions of a business. These
records are the backbone of the accounting system. Business owners should be able to
retrieve and review the transactions whenever required.
- BUDGETING AND PLANNING- Business owners need to plan how they allocate
their limited resources including labor, machinery, equipment and cash towards
accomplishing the objectives of the business.
- DECISION MAKING- Accounting assists in a range of decision-making process and
help owners in developing policies to increase the efficiency of business processes. Some
examples of decisions based on accounting information include the price to be charged
for products and services, the resources needed to make these products and services and
financing and business opportunities
- BUSINESS PERFORMANCE- Using the accounting reports, business owners can
determine how well a business is performing. The financial reports are a reliable source
of measuring the key performance indicators, so business owners can compare
themselves against their past performance as well as against the competitors.
- FINANCIAL POSITION-The financial statements generated at the end of the
accounting cycle reflect the financial condition of a business at that time. It shows how
much capital has been invested, how much funds the business has used, the profit and
loss and the number of assets and liabilities of a business.