Text 1 Accounting and Its Environment

　　Develop an accounting vocabulary for decision making. Accounting is a system for measuring， processing， and communicating financial information. As the “language of business，” accounting helps a wide range of decision makers. Accounting dates backs to ancient civilizations， but its importance to society has been greatest since the Industrial revolution.

　　Apply accounting concepts and principles to analyze business transactions. The three basic forms of business organization are the proprietorship， the partnership， and the corporation. Whatever the form， accountants use the entity concept to keep the business's records separate from the personal records of the people who run it. Accountants at all levels must be ethical to serve their intended purpose. Generally accepted accounting principles （GAAP） guide accountants in their work. Among these guidelines are the entity concept， the reliability principle， the cost principle， the going-concern concept， and the stablemonetary-unit concept.

　　Use the accounting equation to describe an organization's financial position. In its most common form， the accounting equation is Assets=Liabilities + Owner's Equity.

　　Use the accounting equation to analyze business transactions. Transactions affects a business's assets， liabilities， and owner's equity. Therefore， transactions are analyzed in terms of their effect on the accounting equation.

　　Prepare the financial statements. The financial statements communicate information for decision making by the entity's managers， owners， and creditors and by government agencies. The income statement presents a video of the entity's operations in terms of revenues earned and expenses incurred during a specific period. Total revenues minus total expenses equal net income. Net income or net loss answers the question， How much income did the entity earn， or How much loss did it incur during the period？ The statement of owner's equity reports the changes in owner's equity during the period. The balance sheet provides a photograph of the entity's financial standing in terms of its assets， liabilities， and owner's equity at a specific time. It answers the question， What is the entity's financial position？ The statement of cash flows reports the cash coming in and the cash going out during the period. It answers， Where did cash come from ， and， Where did it go？

　　Evaluate the performance of a business. High net income indicates success in business； net loss indicates a bad year.

　　New words

　　accounting 會計學，結算

　　measure 估量，衡量，計算

　　process 初步分類，整理

　　apply to 把……應用于

　　transaction 交易

　　principle 原理

　　proprietorship 獨資企業，所有權

　　partnership 合伙關系，合伙企業

　　corporation 公司，企業

　　entity 實體，統一的，權益

　　ethical 合乎道德的

　　intended 預期的

　　GAAP 普通會計原理

　　guideline 方針，指南

　　entity concept 主體概念

　　reliability principal 可信性原則

　　cost principal 成本原則 going-concern concept 持續經營概念

　　stable-money-unit concept 穩定貨幣單位的概念

　　equation 等式

　　owner's equity 投資者權益

　　financial statement 財政報表

　　agency 機構

　　income statement 損益報表

　　video 說明

　　revenues 總收入

　　incurrent 遭受

　　minus 減去

　　balance sheet 資產負債表，決算表

　　indicate 表明，暗示

　　expenses 開支，消費