Intermediate Accounting, 11 Edition

Book Preface

Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating economic information to enable users to make informed judgments and decisions. It is also called the “language of business.” In the U.S. economy, most published accounting information is about different types of companies (primarily corporations). Companies engage in many transactions and generate large amounts of data. Since people can absorb only limited amounts of information, accounting systems are designed to report information in a concise, understandable format. In this sense, accounting is the link between a company’s economic activities and decision makers.