Accounting is an information system necessitated by the great complexity of modern business.One of the most important functions of accounting is to accumulate and report financial information that shows an organization‘s financial position and the results of its operations to its interested users. These users include managers， stockholders， banks and other creditors， government agencies， investment advisors，and general public.For example，stock holders must have an organization’s financial information in order to holdings. Banks and other creditors must consider the financial strength of a business before permitting it to borrow funds. Potential investors need financial data in order to compare prospective investments. Also，many laws require that extensive financial information be reported to the various evels of government.Businesses usually publish such reports at least annually. To meet the needs of the external users， a framework of accounting standards， principles and procedures known as “generally accepted principles” have been developed to insure the relevance and reliability of the accounting information contained in these external financial reports. The subdivision of the accounting process that produces these external reports is referred to as financial accounting.

会计是一个相当复杂的现代企业所必须的信息系统。会计一个最重要的功能就是合计和报告财务信息，这些信息向有利害关系的使用者显示一个组织的经济地位和他的运营成果。这些使用者包括管理者，股东，银行和其他贷款人、政府代表、投资顾问人和公众。例如：股东持有股票必须有该组织的经济信息，银行和其他贷款人在贷款之前必须考虑其经济实力。潜在的投资人需要财务数据来比较预期投资。许多法律规定的财务信息必须上报到政府的各级机构。企业至少一次公布这样的财务报告。为了满足拓展用户的需求，一个包含会计标准，原则和程序会计标准框架（为人们所熟知为“公认会计原则”）已经发展成为用于评价包含这些拓展财务数据的会计信息的中肯性和可靠性。拓展这些会计信息的分支就是所指的财务会计。

Another important function of，accounting is to provide the management inside an organization with the accounting information needed in the organization‘ s internal decision-making， which relates to planning， control， and evaluation within an organization. For example， budgets are prepared under the directions of a company’s controller on an annual basis and express the desires and goals of the company‘s management. A performance report is supplied to help a manager focus his attention on problems or opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. Furthermore， cost-benefit data will be needed by a company’s management in deciding among the alternatives of reducing prices， increasing advertising， or doing both in attempt to maintain its market shares. The process of generating and analyzing such accounting information for internal decision-making is often referred to as managerial accounting and the related information reports being prepared are called internal management reports. As contrasted with financial accounting， a managerial accounting information system provides both historical and estimated information that is relevant to the specific plans on more frequent basis. And managerial accounting is not governed by generally accepted accounting principles.

会计的另外一个重要功能是提供给利用会计信息进内部决策的公司管理者，这些决策涉及计划、控制和公司评价。例如：预算由每年公司管理者制定，用于表达公司管理愿望和目标。一个执行报告用于帮助管理者关注于那些不被注意的问题和机会。而且为了维护市场份额成本效益数据被管理者用于决策到底是降低价格或者增加广告支出或者两者兼用。产生和分析这样用于做内部决定的财务信息的过程就是所说的管理会计和准备相关信息的报告被称为内部管理报告。区别于财务会计的是管理会计信息系统提供历史数据和不同系统指定的预计信息。管理会计不受公认会计准则的约束。

The growth of organizations， changes in technology， government regulation， and the globalization of economy during；the twentieth century have spurred the development of accounting. As a result， a number of specialized fields of accounting have evolved in addition to financial accounting and managerial accounting， which include auditing， cost accounting， tax accounting， budgetary accounting， governmental and not-for- profit accounting， human resources accounting， environmental accounting， social accounting， international accounting， etc. For example， tax accounting encompasses the preparation of tax returns and the consideration of the tax consequences of proposed business transactions or alternative courses of action. Governmental and not -for-profit accounting specializes in recording and reporting the transactions of various governmental units and other not-for-profit organizations. international accounting is concerned with the special problems associated with the international trade of multinational business organizations. All forms of accounting， in the end， provide information to the related users and help them make decisions.

在20世纪公司的成长性、科技的变化、政府的管 制和经济的全球化促使的会计的发展。结果除了 财务会计和管理会计外的大量的特殊领域的会计 得到了发展，他们包括审计、成本会计、税收会 计、预算会计、政府和非营利性会计、人力资源 会计、环境会计、社会会计、国际会计等等。例 如：税收会计包含了退税和对目标经营操作的税 收环节的考虑或者二者择其一。政府和非营利性 会计是专门记录和报告各种类型的政府组织和其 他非营利性组织的运作情况。国际会计是关于跨 国公司的国际贸易的特殊问题。归根到底，所有 这些形式的会计是提供信息给相关人员并帮助他 们做决定