What is Accounting?
Accounting may be considered the language of a business. However, instead of passing information in words, information is passed in the form of numbers. It is similar to the way statistics pass information about something in numerical form.
Accounting is the process of recording, classifying, analysing, and interpreting financial transactions and information.
Accounting is the way of recording the internal transactions of the business. In Accounting we record the purchase of assets and goods, the sales of goods, the payments to suppliers…
The importance of Accounting
Accounting is important for several reasons, including:
1. Financial management: Accounting provides businesses with accurate and timely financial information that is essential for effective financial management. It helps businesses to understand their financial position, make informed decisions about investments, and plan for the future.
2. Business performance analysis: Accounting allows businesses to track their financial performance over time, identify areas where they are doing well and areas where they need to improve.
Skills needed
Learners studying Accounting would need to be
- Organised
- Systematic
- Diligent
- Hard-working
- Logical
- Punctual
In the course of Accounting, learners would learn
Why should one study Accounting?
Everyone could study Accounting. However, some people may get more benefit than others from studying Accounting. These include:
- Those who would like to become accountants. This is an obvious answer. Those who would like to become accountants should study Accounting, preferably from its rudiments. Once a person becomes a qualified accountant s/he can work as an accountant, as a tax accountant, as an auditor, as a financial planner and as a financial adviser.
Combination of Accounting and
Business Studies vis-à-vis careers
Accounting combines very well with Business Studies. Knowledge of Business Studies helps the learner to understand how a business works and operates. The knowledge of Accounting would help learners of Business Studies, and knowledge of Business Studies would be of great help to learners of Accounting. Both subjects complement each other with no overlapping between them.
Continuous Assessment
Coursework modes throughout the 3 year course:
Spreadsheet
Accounting spreadsheets must be created by students for a task designed by the teacher from a selected learning outcome. Students may use Excel or any other spreadsheet software of their choice to present their work in response to the enquiry question set by the teacher. Besides the preparation of spreadsheets for the accounting records and accounting statements the students may be expected to communicate their findings in a clear and coherent form in a short written report to support the accounting work. Learners will be credited for well-structured worksheet/workbook containing multiple worksheets, linking of cells from different worksheets, use of formulae and printing of selected output.
Case Study Report
A case-study report should relate to an accounting theme. A case study investigation should consist of accounting statements and a piece of extended writing to assess students’ ability to apply accounting knowledge to the chosen assessment criteria from a specific learning outcome. Students are required to select relevant and accurate information and data to investigate and evaluate the accounting theme. Students may be required to use secondary sources. Case study examples can be real situations or designed by the teacher and must relate to a specific activity (e.g. organised at the school, or elsewhere, or fictional). Students may illustrate their work with captioned images, financial workings, diagrams and other relevant data. Students will be credited for accurate use of accounting terminology and clarity of arguments. Students are expected to include the relevant accounting and/or financial statements and a write up.
Site visit reports
Reports must be compiled by individual candidates and based on experience gained during the visit organised by the school directly related to one of the outcomes as indicated in this learning programme. The report should be supplemented by a brief history of the organisation, a description of the operations of the organisation, the product portfolio, photographs taken by the students themselves, and when appropriate accompanied with statistics, graphs, and diagrams. The learning experience should be applied to the field of accounting and the assessment criteria must include a task requiring the preparation of an accounting statement directly related to the aim of the visit. Planning is the key to hosting a successful site visit. Teachers need to discuss the purpose of the site visit and how it relates to the learning programme. The teacher needs also to discuss with students how to ask good questions while on site to gather information during the visit. Teachers have the task of adding an accounting dimension to the visit. This is because very often explanations are delivered by professional staff which may be too difficult for students to grasp. It is recommended that teachers visit and interview a member of the senior management before the visit to prepare related worksheets to be completed by students during the visit. There is a word guidance for this task. Students are expected to include the relevant accounting and/or financial statements and a write up.
Accounting Report
An accounting report must be an enquiry-based task from a selected learning outcome. Students must present their work and findings in a written report that includes accounting tasks in response to the inquiry question set by the teacher. Students are required to collect, present and analyse data and finally evaluate the current situation and/or identify possible solutions or strategies for improving the business performance and financial position. Learners will be credited for accurate use of accounting terminology, clarity of arguments and logical structure of their work. Students are expected to include the relevant accounting and/or financial statements and a written report.
Presentation
A presentation must contain student responses to a focused task from a selected learning outcome. Students must present their work and findings in a multimodal presentation that includes spoken and written explanations in response to the inquiry question set by the teacher. Students may use spreadsheets, accounting software, visual presentation software to present their ideas. Besides texts and accounting statements the presentation can contain visual aids in the form of images, graphs, and diagrams. However, students may present their work by other modes, such as charts, models or any other method. Students are expected also to construct a simple exposition including reasoned argument based on theme being investigated. They will be expected to communicate their findings in a clear and coherent form. Learners will be credited for accurate use of accounting vocabulary and logical structure of their work.