accounting

accounting — noun

1. the practice of writing down, organizing, and checking the amounts of money that

1.nounB2
Definition

the practice of writing down, organizing, and checking the amounts of money that flow into and out of a business or person, so that the financial picture can be understood.

Example

Ines is studying accounting because she wants to manage a small bakery one day.

studying + accounting (uncountable, no article)

Good accounting helped the charity prove that every donation reached the children.

good / careful / honest accounting collocations

Common collocations
  • good accounting
  • careful accounting
  • accounting software
  • accounting system
  • accounting records
  • accounting standards
Synonyms
  • bookkeeping

    narrower; only the daily recording, without analysis or reporting

  • auditing

    checking that accounts are correct, often by an outside party

  • finance

    broader; covers planning and managing money, not only recording it

Grammar Patterns

accounting + for + something

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable; do not say 'an accounting' for the activity. Distinguish from sense 2 (the profession) by checking whether the sentence is about the work itself or about a person's career path.

Common Mistakes

I am learning an accounting at college.
I am learning accounting at college.
accounting as an activity is uncountable, so no 'a/an'.
He works in accountings for a hotel.
He works in accounting for a hotel.
there is no plural form when it means the activity.

2. the paid work of an accountant — that is, doing the recording and checking of mo

2.nounB2
Definition

the paid work of an accountant — that is, doing the recording and checking of money for companies, families, or governments as one's main career.

Example

After ten years in accounting, Daniel opened his own office near the train station.

in accounting (career field)

Mei's parents pushed her toward accounting, but she really wanted to be a chef.

career-path collocation

Common collocations
  • work in accounting
  • a career in accounting
  • study accounting
  • go into accounting
  • leave accounting
Synonyms
  • bookkeeping

    lower-skilled work, often without a professional licence

  • auditing

    a specialised branch of accounting that focuses on checking other people's records

Grammar Patterns

work in accounting

a career in accounting

Usage Note

Subject is usually a person's career or field of study, not a single task. Distinguish from sense 1: if you can replace the word with 'the accountant profession' or 'becoming an accountant', this sense fits.

Common Mistakes

She is an accounting at the bank.
She is an accountant at the bank.
the person is an 'accountant'; 'accounting' is the field, not the worker.
He has a job of accounting.
He has a job in accounting.
the natural preposition is 'in', not 'of'.

Word family

  • account
    nounB1
  • account
    verbB2
  • accountant
    nounB1
  • accountancy
    nounC1
  • accountable
    adjectiveC1
  • accountability
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words deal with money and records, but their reach is different. Bookkeeping is the narrowest: writing down each sale, payment, and bill as it happens. Accounting takes those raw entries and turns them into reports — profit and loss, balance sheets, tax forms — so that owners and tax officers can understand what the numbers mean. Auditing comes after accounting; an auditor checks whether the accounting work was honest and complete, usually as an outside expert. Finance is the widest term and looks forward instead of backward: it covers borrowing, investing, and planning how money will be used. So a small shop owner does bookkeeping every evening, hires an accountant once a year, brings in an auditor only if required, and turns to a finance adviser when planning to expand.

accountingbookkeepingauditingfinance

Common collocations

Nouns

  • accounting software
  • accounting system
  • accounting records
  • accounting firm
  • accounting standards
  • accounting period

Adverbs

  • properly
  • carefully
  • honestly

Phrases

  • a career in accounting
  • double-entry accounting
  • creative accounting

Prepositions

  • in accounting
  • for accounting purposes

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word comes from the verb 'account', which arrived in English from Old French 'aconter', meaning to count up or to give a reckoning. That French verb traces back to Latin 'computare', the same root that gives us 'compute'. The '-ing' ending turns the verb into the name of the activity, so 'accounting' literally means 'the work of counting up' — first used in this business sense in the 1600s as European trade and banking grew.