Defining the word “accounting” requires context due to its versatile usage.

For instance,
accounting can describe the actual practice of accounting, which the financial website
Investopedia defines as “the process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a
business.” It can also be used as a blanket term for the accounting profession, which
comprises individuals working in a wide range of roles associated with accounting
practice, such as bookkeepers, accounts payable specialists and payroll administrators.
From an academic standpoint, accounting could be used to describe a specific degree
program designed to prepare individuals for a role in the accounting field.

Definition of
Accountancy
In the most basic sense, accountancy is the “work or profession of an accountant,”
according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. The website Trending Accounting offers a
broader definition of the term, describing it as “the systematic knowledge of accounting
that relates with the principle[s] and technique[s] which are applied in accounting
system[s].” In popular usage, however, the term “accountancy” is often a way to
distinguish degrees focused on the academic side of the field, such as a Master of
Science in Accounting, from the professional degrees through which most accountants
are trained.

“Accountancy” also is often used as an umbrella term to encapsulate several areas of

real-world financial statement management, including preparation, compilation and
review. Preparing a financial statement or balance sheet is accounting; interpreting it or
deciding what to do with it is accountancy.
Differences
Between Accounting
and Accountancy
The primary difference between accounting and accountancy is one of scope.
Accountancy is the systematic field of knowledge pertaining to accounting, including the
rules and principles that govern actual accounting procedures. The act of accounting is
a subset of accountancy that involves the practical application of accountancy principles
to execute the profession’s core duties.

In other words, accountancy deals with the conceptual, and accounting deals with the
practical. The term “accountancy” refers to the study, principles and theory of
accounting, while the term “accounting” is commonly used for all accounting practices
and procedures in application. It is worth noting, for example, that accountancy includes
any decision-making process that might follow the preparation of an income statement,
whereas accounting deals with the preparation of the income statement itself.