CHAPTER-2

INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING

A. The Objectives of the study-1.

After the study, the students are expected to be able to:

1. explain what accounting is?

2. explain what do accountants do?
3. explain some of accountant’s job
4. make questions with Yes/No questions and Question words

B. Material Description

Reading Text.

1.1.Introducing to accounting

Accounting can be defined as a process of reporting, recording, interpreting and

summarizing economic data. The introduction of accounting helps the decision-makers of a
company to make effective choices, by providing information on the financial status of the
business. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) had defined
accounting as the “art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and
in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character,
and interpreting the results thereof”.

Today, accounting is used by everyone and a good understanding of it is beneficial to

all. Accountancy act as a language of finance. To understand accounting efficiently, it is
important to understand the aspects of accounting.
International Accounting

International companies can choose how they present financial information to

outside parties. The rules and regulations between countries vary significantly,
Accountants worldwide are Familiar with the words 'Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP)'. Some of the basic principles are:

• The going concern principle

• The prudence principle
• The matching principle
• The consistency principle.

The development of these principles has greatly differed between countries. For
example, in most English-speaking countries it is often accepted practice to offset
unrealized gains from unrealized losses, or to re-value long term assets upwards,
provided sufficient proof of the current value can be shown. This means that accounts
can have very different values, depending on whether the company chooses to follow
local accounting standards, Inter. national Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
formerly the International Accounting Standards (IAS) — or U.S. GAAP. Whether the
company can choose is governed by the laws of the country where it is registered. For
example, the U.S.A. and Japan currently allow publicly traded companies to prepare
their financial statements using the standards of the International Accounting
Standards Committee (IASC), but they must also include a reconciliation to domestic
GAAP.

Comprehension Questions:
Read the text carefully before you answer the questions. Use your own English words
to answer the questions, not to copy the sentences from the text.

Exercise:

1.What is meant by Accounting? Accounting is a process of recording financial

transactions and the output is financial reports required by various parties.
2.Who use Accounting services? Users of accounting services are parties with an
interest in accounting information, like a manager, investor, creditor, government, non
profit organization, etc.
3.What AIPCA had to do with Accounting? AICPA is a professional organization in the
field of accounting whose membership is only for registered public accountants.
AICPA defines accounting as an art although it recognizes that there are several
aspects of accounting as a field of science. According to the AICPA definition, the
place of art in accounting is found in the words "creative skills and abilities".
4.Explain the aspects of Accounting. In general, accounting includes several aspects,
such as recording transactions, measuring financial performance, financial reporting,
and financial analysis.
5.Do you know of any differences in the application of these principles between
countries? Yes, I know. In Indonesian using standards of IFRS and In USA using
standards of GAAP.
6.What should a visiting accountant know about the principles in your country? An
accountant must know accounting principles to obtain objective results in the financial
reports. Accounting principle are: economic entity, historical cost, going concern, full
disclosure, revenue recognition, matching principle, accounting period, consistency,
monetary unit and materiality.

C. ACCOUNTING JOBS:

D.Vocabulary Building:
Fill in the gaps in the definitions with words from the box below.
specializing • studying • for inspecting its accounts • processing the records
• giving administrative support • to inspect its accounts

Trainee accountants specializing

Accountants who are……
Book keeper studying
Administrative staff responsible for
Back-office manager Processing the records
Person in charge of the staff responsible
for
Internal auditors giving administrative support
Employees of a company who are
responsible
External auditors to inspect its accounts
People employed by an outside firm of
accountants and hired by a
company……

E.Find below some mixed-up phrases from the conversation. Re-order them so
that they make sense.

1. In Mr. moment Martens you with will be a….(Mr. Martin will be with you in a moment)
2. Have did you a flight nice?
The answer is: Did you have a nice flight?
3. Coffee Would some you like?
The answer is: Would you like some coffee?
4. Keep Sorry you to waiting.
The answer is: Sorry, keep you to waiting.
5. Come Please in seat take and a,
The answer is: Please, come and take a seat.
6. Call finishing He's just phone a.
The answer is: He’s just finishing a phone call.
7. To nice you meet It's.
The answer is: It’s nice to meet you.
 F. Now fill in the gaps with a suitable word from the box.

bad • absolutely • very • know • start • fill • fairly

1. You're absolutely right.

2. Would you like to start by telling me a little about your experience?
3. I guess you know that I studied economics in New York.
4. And then I'll you fill in on our group.
5. Your C.V is very impressive
6. But that's not a bad
7. We're fairly international here now

G.Use words from each box to make word partnerships. Then match them to
the definitions below.

Outside – accepted – English-speaking – local accounting – publicly -

traded – company – practice – standards – parties - countries

1. A firm that sells its shares to anyone who wants to buy them. Public trade
company
2. For example, Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.A. Countries
3. The way that most people do something. Practice
4. The rules and regulations which state how accountants operate in a particular
place. Standard
5. People or groups who are not involved with the company. Outside

Part. II. Grammar Focus:

A.The objective of the study-2:

After the session, the students are able to:
1. make questions with Yes/No questions and Question words
2. to use question word what kind of, which. whose, whose. how, how often and how far

B.MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Learning Objective 2.1:
Using What Kind of
What kind of is used to ask for information about specific type (a specific kind) in a general
category. For example, fruit is the general category. And the specific kinds are apple, orange,
watermelon, banana, etc.
Question Answer
(a) What kind of fruit do you like? Apple
Orange
Watermelon
Banana
Etc.
(b) What kind of music do you like Pop
best? RnB
Dangdut
Jazz
Etc.
Learning Objective 2.2:
Using Which

Which is used:
a. Which book/books do you want to - when the speaker
borrow? wants to give a
choice to someone or
offering alternatives.

- for singular or plural

nouns.

b. Jack: Here’s a photo of my family. - to ask about people

or things.
Jane: Let me see. Which one is your
mother?

Learning Objective 2.3:

Using Whose
Whose is used to ask possession. When the listener and the speaker know clearly the intended
noun, the noun can be omitted.
Question Answer
a. Whose (bag) is this? It’s my bag.
b. Whose (bags) are those?
They’re the students bags.
c. Whose car did you borrow?

I borrowed Karen’s (car).

Learning Objective 2.4:

Using How

How has many uses. One use of how is to ask about means (way) of transportation.
A: How did you go to your office?
B: I drove./By car.
I took a taxi./ By taxi.
Adjectives or adverbs often follow how such as the following.
A: How old are you?
B: Twenty-one.

A: How tall are you ?

B: About six feet.

A: How well does your sister cook?

B: Very well.

A: How quickly can you get there?

B: I can get there in 30 minutes.

Learning Objective 2.5:

Using How often
How often is used to ask frequency of doing something.
How often do you go shopping? Every day.
Once a week.
 Twice a week.
How many times can also used to ask for frequency.
How many times a day do you have a bath? Two or three..
How many times a month do you go swimming? Three times.

Learning Objective 2.6:

Using How Far

How far is used to ask about distance. Besides using how far, we can also use how many miles,
how many kilometres, how many blocks, etc to ask for distance.
A: How far is it from your house to the railway station?
B: About 2 kilometres.
A: How far do live from office?
B: Six blocks.
How many miles is it from your house to the railway station?
How many kilometres is it to the city centre?
How many blocks is it to the market?

REFERENCE

Azar, Betty Schrampfer. 2003. Fundamentals of English Grammar Third Edition. USA:
Longman.
Communication Skill, https://ncert.nic.in/vocational/pdf/kees101.pdf
Frendo, Evan and Mahoney Sean, 2011 English for Accounting. UK, Oxford University Press.
Richey, Rosemary.2011. English for Banking & Finance, Person, Longman
Swan, Michael. 1995. Practical English Usage Second Edition. Hongkong: Oxford University
Press.
Vicki Hollet at all. 1991. In At Deep End. Speaking Activities for Professional People. Oxford
University Press 1991.