Hello, my name is Hillary and I am a certified public accountant who works in the finance department of an organization. And although I am an accountant by trade, most of the people I interact with at work on a daily basis are not accountants. But there are several ways in which accounting impacts individuals who work outside of the finance department. Here are some examples I encounter with others on a regular basis:

1. Preparing a department budget - On at least an annual basis, a budget is prepared for an organization. The budget is a financial plan that lays out spending for the upcoming fiscal year. I work with budget managers in various departments of the organization to help oversee their budget preparation. They need to think about their priorities for the year and how much they plan to spend on each endeavor. This may consist of salary & fringe for personnel as well as contractual or outsourced services and purchased supplies.
2. Monitoring spending - Once the budget is approved and spending commences, individuals in departments need to monitor their expenses. Some things to look for are:
   • Run a report regularly out of the financial system and review the expenses listed
   • Individuals should ensure they recognize the expense and it belongs in their department. If they don't think it belongs in their department, they reach out to me and after verifying with the department it should've been charged to, I can reclass it out of the incorrect department and charge it to the proper department.
   • Individuals should also be looking to see that the actual amount was the same or less than the expected or budgeted amount. If the amount was more, they will most likely need to reduce other planned expenses in order to ensure they have enough to cover this expense.
3. Using the financial information system - I recently led my organization's implementation of a cloud-based financial information system - less paper forms circulating the office and more self-service functions available for all users. If not already familiar with the financial information system, individuals should look for trainings offered which will teach users how to do various finance-related functions, such as entering a purchase requisition or travel request, or run reports at their convenience. Users also learn how to look up information on their own, such as where in the approval workflow their reimbursement is or looking up a past invoice to a vendor.
4. Submitting travel and expense reimbursements - most organizations have travel & reimbursement policies and procedures that need to be followed, so first I would recommend that individuals locate that policy and ensure they are familiar with it. It will outline what expenses can be reimbursed and which ones cannot. This is helpful to know before you travel or make a purchase to ensure you will be reimbursed as expected.
5. Accrual accounting and capital purchases - although individuals may not work in the finance department, there are some accounting practices that are helpful for them to be aware of. Two of these are accrual accounting and capital purchases.
6.  
   • With accrual accounting, an expense is recognized when the transaction occurs or over the period of service, regardless of when payment is made. For example, an annual software subscription of $12,000 will be recognized as $1,000 per month for 12 months, even if the full payment was made upfront. Or, a consultant performed work in the month of May but did not send an invoice until June - that expense would still be recognized in May.
   • Capital purchases, also called fixed assets, are a purchase of property, plant, or equipment that has a value over the organization's threshold (often in the range of $2,000-$5,000) for capital purchases and a useful life of longer than one year. This will affect the department's expense budget, because instead of expensing the cost at the time of purchase, they are capitalized on the balance sheet and depreciated (usually straight-line) over the life of the asset.

Both of these accounting principles are important for individuals outside of the accounting department to understand because of their potential impact on their department's budget and monitoring expenses.

So, as you can see, there are many ways in which accounting impacts individuals who work outside of the finance department. Understanding this and being proactive about it will help the organization, and the finance department is always a great resource for guidance.

 

there are many ways in which accounting impacts and works with individuals inside of the organization whom work outside of the accounting department. Understanding the roles and responsibilities of individuals outside of the accounting department is critical, as the job roles which they perform contribute to the reliability of the financial statements ultimately prepared by the accounting department. As you are learning about in this course, the reliability of the financial statements is critically important to many third parties, starting with the shareholders of the Company, and including suppliers of the Company, third parties that lend the Company money, and of course, internally, to the employees of the Company. 

Most of all, we hope that the information has helped to explain to you why we say: Accounting is the language of business! 

                                       A five to seven slide presentation of seven hundred words- label each slide with elements, such as images, text outlines and infographics: answer the following. 

1. authentically discuss and explain how and why accounting is the language of business? 
2. Provide specific examples of how the accounting function in every business impacts the overall organizations