Definition

1. Noun:
   • The systematic recording, reporting, and analysis of financial transactions of a business: The profession or practice of maintaining financial records.
   • A statement or explanation of financial transactions: A report, often periodic, detailing debits, credits, and balances.
   • A convincing explanation or justification for actions: A rendering of reasons or causes for something.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • She studied accounting at university and now works for a large firm.
  • Please review the monthly accounting I sent you; it shows all our expenses and income.
  • He offered no accounting for his sudden decision to leave.

Advanced Usage

• "There is no accounting for taste": An idiom meaning it is impossible to explain why people like or dislike certain things, as preferences are subjective.
  • He collects bizarre art, but there's no accounting for taste.

Variants and Related Words

• Account (n/v): A record or statement of financial affairs; to explain or justify.
• Accountant (n): A person whose job is to keep or inspect financial accounts.
• Accountable (adj): Required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible.

Synonyms

• Bookkeeping: The activity of recording financial transactions.
• Auditing: The official inspection of financial accounts.
• Reckoning: The calculation or estimation of something.

Related Phrases

• To give an accounting of: To provide a detailed report or explanation.
  • The director had to give an accounting of the project's budget overruns.
• Accounting for: Explaining or justifying; also, constituting a portion of a total.
  • The bad weather was a major factor accounting for the delay.
  • Sales in Europe are accounting for 40% of our revenue.

Related Idioms

• Call someone to account: To demand an explanation from someone.
  • The committee called the manager to account for the missing funds.

Noun

1. a statement of recent transactions and the resulting balance
   • they send me an accounting every month
2. a bookkeeper's chronological list of related debits and credits of a business; forms part of a ledger of accounts
3. the occupation of maintaining and auditing records and preparing financial reports for a business
4. a system that provides quantitative information about finances
5. a convincing explanation that reveals basic causes
   • he was unable to give a clear accounting for his actions