ABSTRACT
THE ACCOUNTING TASK We have seen that, at its simplest, accounting deals with receipts and payments of cash. If all transactions are complete at the accounting date, it is easy to summarize receipts and payments and calculate the closing balance. But problems begin to emerge when an ongoing business needs ‘interim’ accounts. For now, whatever accounting date is chosen, some transactions will be incomplete. And the longer the time taken to complete transactions (the ‘operating cycle’), the more difficult will be the accounting task.
