ABSTRACT

Some basic knowledge of accounting is necessary before a chemical professional can develop and obtain the data needed to analyze a firm's operations, discover whether the firm is making a profit, and predict whether a company will continue to make a profit. It is also essential to know how a firm's operations are reported to determine its role in a particular industry or in the national economy. Financial reports of the individual firm are one of the most important sources of data for the national accounting summaries presented in Chapter 2 and for the input-output tables in Chapter 4.