Account 、 Accounting 和Accountant
Account 有很多意思，常见的主要是“说明、解释；计算、帐单；银行帐户”。例如：
1、       He gave me a full  account of his plan。
他把计划给我做了完整的说明。
2、       Charge it to my account。
把它记在我的帐上。
3、       Cashier： Good  afternoon。 Can I help you ？
银行出纳：下午好，能为您做什么？
Man ： I'd like to open a bank account .
男人：我想开一个银行存款帐户。
还有 account title（帐户名称、会计科目）、income account（收益帐户）、account book（帐簿）等。
在 account 后面加上词缀 ing 就成为 accounting ，其意义也相应变为会计、会计学。例如：
1、Accounting is a process of recording, classifying，summarizing and interpreting of those business activities that can be expressed in monetary terms.
会计是一个以货币形式对经济活动进行记录、分类、汇总以及解释的过程。
2、It has been said that Accounting is the language of business.
据说会计是“商业语言”
3、Accounting is one of the fastest growing profession in the modern business world.
会计是当今经济社会中发展最快的职业之一。
4、       Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting are two major specialized fields in Accounting.
财务会计和管理会计是会计的两个主要的专门领域。
其他还有 accounting profession（会计职业）、accounting elements（会计要素）等。
Accountant 比Account只多ant三个字母，其意思是会计师、会计人员。例如：
1、A certified public accountant or CPA, as the term is usually abbreviated, must pass a series of examinations, after which he or she receives a certificate.
注册会计师（或，注册会计师的缩写），必须通过一系列考试方可取得证书。
2、Private accountant , also called executive or administrative accountant, handle the financial records of a business.
私人会计师，也叫做主管或行政会计师，负责处理公司的财务帐目。
总之，这三个词，有很深的渊源关系。
Assets、Liabilities 和Owner's Equity
这三个词分别是资产、负债和所有者权益，是会计等式的三个要素。
Assets 这个词表示资产时一定要用复数形式，即词尾要有 “s”。如果不用复数形式，就成为“宝物，天赋、技能”的意思。例如：
1、              Assets are properties that are owned and have monetary values；for instance，cash，inventory，buildings，equipment.
资产是指企业所拥有的、具有货币价值的财产，如现金、存货、建筑物、设备。
2、              Assets are the economic resources that are owned or controlled by a business and can be expressed in monetary units.
资产是由企业拥有或控制并能用货币计量的经济资源。
3、              Assets can be classified into current assets and non-current assets .
资产可以划分为流动资产和非流动资产。
Liabilities 是liability 的复数形式。它的意思是法律上的责任、义务。如 liability for an accident （肇事的责任）；liability to pay taxes （纳税的义务）。只有其为复数形式 liabilities 时才表示负债、债务的意思。例如：
1、              Liabilities are the obligations or debt that a business must pay in money or services at some time in the future.
负债是指将来需用货币或服务偿还的债务或履行的义务。
2、              Liabilities are amounts owned to outsiders, such as notes payable, accounts payable, bonds payable.
负债是欠外部的数额，如应付票据、应付帐款、应付债券。
Owner's equity 是由 owner (所有者、业主)和equity （权益）构成为“业主权益”。例如：
1、              Owner's equity represents the owner's interest in or claim upon a business net assets which is the deference between the amount of assets and the amount of liabilities.
业主权益代表业主对企业净资产的权益或要求权，净资产是指企业的资产总额与负债之间的差额。
2、              Capital is the interest of the owners in an enterprise. Also known as owner's equity.
资本是企业所有者的利益，也称为业主权益。
3、              Owner's equity include owner “s investment in a business and accumulated operating results since the beginning of the operation.
业主权益包括业主的投资以及企业自开业以来积累的经营成果。
上述会计要素相互之间的关系用一个简单的数学公式来表示，就是会计恒等式：
Assets=Liabilities+Owner's equity
资产=负债+业主权益
Ledgers 和 Journals
Ledgers 在簿记上是分类帐的意思，可以和其他词汇搭配，构成许多会计词汇。如ledger accounts（分类帐户）、general ledger（总分类帐）、subsidiary ledger（明细分类帐）等。例如：
1、            Ledger accounts are used to record business transactions' effect on an accounting entity.
分类帐户被用来记录交易对会计主体的影响。
2、A ledger account is simply a record of changes （increase and decrease）and balances in value of a specific accounting item.
分类帐户不过是特定会计项目价值的变动（增加与减少）和结余的记录。
3、The general ledger is the book used to list all the accounts established by an organization.
总分类帐是一本列出一个单位所设立的全部帐户的帐本。
4、Further simplification of the general ledger is brought about by the use of subsidiary ledger.
使用明细分类帐使总分类帐更加简化明了。
5、The advantages of subsidiary ledger are as following：（1）reduces ledger detail ；（2）permits better division of labor；（3）permits a different sequence of accounts；（4）permits better internal control。
明细分类帐的优点如下；（1）减少分类帐的细节；（2）使劳动分工更合理；（3）允许不同的帐户排序（4）便于更好地内部控制。
Journal 比较常用的意思是“日记、日志；杂志、刊物”，如keep a journal （记日志）、a ship's journal (航海日志)，a monthly journal (月刊)，单词 diary 也有“日记”的意思，但journal 比 diary 更强调“正式记录”。Journal 在会计词汇上的意思是“日记帐”。例如：
1、In a western accounting system ,the information about each business transaction is initially recorded in an accounting record called a Journal.
在西方会计体系中，有关每笔经济交易的资料最初是记在一本叫做“日记帐”的会计帐上。
2、A journal is a chronological(arrange in order of time ) record of business transactions.
日记帐是对经济交易的序时（即按时间的顺序）记录。
3、In a journal entry, the debits and credits for given transaction are recorded together, but when the transaction is recorded in the ledger, the debits and credits are entered in different  accounts.
在日记帐上记帐时，既定交易的借方和贷方一起被记录，但在分类帐记录中，一笔交易的借方和贷方进入不同的帐户中。
4、A journal may be a general journal or it may be a group of special journals.
日记帐可以是一本通用日记帐，也可以是一组特种日记帐。
Current assets、fixed assets 和 Current liabilities
Current 是一个很有意思的词汇。它既可以是形容词，也可以是名词。作为形容词，current 意思是“通用的、流通的，现在的”，如 current money（通货），current English（现代英语），current fashion（目前流行的风尚）；作为名词，current 的意思是“水流、气流，电流，动向、潮流”，如 the current of a river （河的水流），the cold current （寒流），a direct current （直流电），the current of public opinion（舆论的动向）。在这里，还要特别提到英国的两种存款 current account （活期存款，也相当于美国银行中的 checking account ）和deposit account （储蓄存款，也相当于美国银行中的 savings account ）。如果你到英国银行对柜员说：“Could you tell me what sorts of accounts there are ？”（您能告诉我有几种什么存款吗？）银行柜员就会说：“Well，there are basically two types of  accounts .There's a current account and a deposit account. With the current account you can pay for things by cheque, but you don't earn any interest . With the deposit account ,you earn interest ,but you can't pay for things by cheque……”（基本上有两种存款，一种活期存款，一种储蓄存款；活期存款你可以用支票支付，但没有利息；储蓄存款可以挣到利息，但不能用支票支付。）
Current assets 就是“流动资产”。例如：
1、Current assets are the assets reasonably expected to be converted into cash or used in the current operation of the business.(The current period is generally taken as one year.) Examples are cash, notes receivable, accounts receivable, inventory , and prepaid expenses.
流动资产指的是有充分理由认为在当期经营活动中转换成现金或被使用的资产(一般是一年期)。现金、应收票据、应收帐款、存货以及预付的费用都属于流动资产。
说到流动资产，就不能不提到另一个词汇 fixed assets（固定资产）。例如：
2、Fixed assets are the long-lived assets used in the production of goods or services. These assets, sometime called non-current assets, are used in the operation of business rather than being held for sale.
固定资产是在产品和服务的生产过程中使用的寿命较长的资产。这些资产有时称为非流动资产，是公司经营中为了使用而不是为销售而置备的资产。
Current liabilities 就是“流动负债”。例如：
3、Current liabilities . Debts which must be satisfied from current assets within the next operating period, usually one year. Examples are accounts payable, notes payable, the current portion of long-term debt, and various accrued items such as salaries payable and taxes payable.
流动负债。在下一个经营期间，通常是一年内必须用流动资产偿还的债务。应付帐款、应付票据、长期债务的当期分摊额，以及诸如应付工资和应付税款等种种应计项目都是流动负债。