What are the Procedural Aspects of Accounting?

The recording of transactions through the creation of financial statements is a universal accounting procedure or procedural aspect of accounting.

This procedure is performed by businesses all over the world as part of their standard operations. The timing and rate at which transactions are recorded and subsequently reported in the company’s financial statements are determined by the generally accepted accounting principles.

Every proper record-keeping system includes a suitable classification of transactions and events and their summarisation for future reference. After the transactions and events are recorded in the books of prime entries, they are transferred to secondary books of account, i.e. Ledger.

In the ledger, transactions and events are classified in terms of incomes, expenses, assets and liabilities according to their characteristics and then summarised in the profit and loss account and balance sheet. These are also known as the fundamentals of accounting.

“The function of accounting is to provide quantitative information, primarily of financial nature, about economic entities, that is needed to be useful in making economic decisions.”

Accounting Principles Board of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

Fundamentals of Accounting or Procedural Aspects of Accounting

A. Generating financial information and

B. Using the financial information

Generating Financial Information

Generating financial information is concerned with preparing financial information, which has several stages right from recording transactions. The following steps are involved in generating financial information:

Recording

This is the first and foremost function of accounting. All business transactions having a financial nature, as evidenced by documents like sales bills, purchase bills, bank pay-in-slip etc., are recorded in the books of account. The recording is done in the prime book of entry, i.e. Journal. It may further be categorised in subsidiary books.

Classifying

Classification is concerned with the systematic analysis of the recorded data, with a view to group transactions of similar nature to make the data more comparable and useful. The book containing classified information is called “Ledger.”

Summarising

Summarising is concerned with preparing and presenting the classified data in a manner useful to the internal as well as external users of the financial statement. Under this process following financial statements are prepared:

• Profit & Loss A/c or Income Statement: Income statements show a company’s revenue, expenses, and profit over a set period. This information can help you understand a company’s financial health and performance.
• Statement of Changes in Equity: This is the second statement that details the changes in equity from the beginning to the end of the reporting period. The essential purpose of the statement is to provide a comprehensive summary of all changes in equity, including those not included in the income statement.
• Balance Sheet:  This statement follows from the statement of changes in equity and is a statement of the entity’s assets, liabilities and equity. You will notice how the accounting equation holds within the Balance Sheet (i.e. A = L + E). You will also see how Assets and Liabilities are separated in the Balance Sheet as current and non-current, and we will explore these types of distinctions.
• Cash–Flow Statement: A cash flow statement helps to identify actual cash inflows and outflows during the financial year. The income statement and balance sheet figures reflect a gross position that includes both cash and non-cash substances.

Analysing

The figures given in the financial statements do not help anyone unless they are presented in simplified form. To make them useful, some analysis is required. Here analysis refers to the systematic classification of the data given in the financial statement. For instance, all items relating to fixed assets are given in one place, while current assets are shown separately in the Balance Sheet.

Interpreting

This is the final function of accounting. It is related to explaining the meaning and significance of the relationship established by analysing accounting data. Simply it means the presentation of the result in literal terms.

Communicating

It is directed toward the transmission of summarised, analysed and interpreted information to the end-users to make decisions. This is done by preparing and distributing accounting reports which consist of final accounts, accounting ratios, graphs, charts etc.

Also Read: What is Economic Batch Quantity? With Example

Using Financial Information

Once the financial information is ready, it must be used by the users of accounting information. Following are some basic users of financial information such as:

• Owners of the business
• Investors
• Employees
• Lenders
• Suppliers
• Government
• Customer and Public

Conclusion

The procedural aspects of accounting can be broadly divided into two main phases: generating financial information and using the financial information. Each phase involves multiple steps and techniques that ensure accuracy, transparency, and compliance with accounting standards.