ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ACCOUNTING
Unit One
Accounting Profession
第一单元 会计职业
INTRODUCTION OF ACCOUNTING. Accounting is a process of recorded, classifying, summarizing, and interpreting of those business activities that can be in expressed in monetary terms. A person who specializes in this field is known as an accountant.
会计简介 会计是一个以货币形式对经济活动进行记录、分类、汇总以及解释的过程。专门从事这方 面工作的人员叫做会计师。
Accounting frequently offers the qualified person an opportunity to move ahead quickly in today?s business world. Indeed, many of the heads of large corporations throughout the world have advanced to their position from the accounting department. Accounting is a basic and vital element in every modern business. It records the past growth or decline of the business. Careful analysis of these results and trends may suggest the ways in which the business may grow in future. Expan- sion or reorganization should not be planned without proper analysis of the accounting informa- tion; and new products and the campaign to advertise and sell them should not be launched with- out the help of accounting expertise.
会计这一职业在当今经济社会中给有能力的人提供了升迁的机会。事实上，世界上许多大公司的领导 者都是从会计部门升到现有位置上的。会计是现代各类公司基本和重要的组成部分，它记录公司以入的兴 衰，对这些记录结果和趋势进行认真的分析，有助于公司提出未来发展的方向。如果没有对会计资料的恰 当的分析，就无法计划公司的扩展和重组，没有会计专业人员的帮助，就无法组织生产新产品，开展促销 活动。
Accounting is one of the fastest growing professions in the modern business world. Every new store, school, restaurant, or filling station—indeed, any new enterprise of any kind—increases the demand for accountants. Consequently, the demand for competent accountants is generally much greater than the supply. Government officials often have a legal background; similarly, the men or women in management often have a background on accounting. They are usually familiar with the methodology of finance and the fundamentals of fiscal and business administration.
会计师是当今经济社会中发展最快的职业之一。每一个新商店、学校、饭店或加油站，事实上，任何 种类的新企业的建立都增加了对会计师的需求，其结果是对有水平的会计师的需求通常要大大超过其供给。 政府官员通常要有做过法律工作的背景。同样，从事管理工作的男女工作人员通常有做过会计工作的经历， 他们对理财方法和财务管理的基本原则一般都十分熟悉。
DISTINCTION BETWEEN BOOKKEEPING AND ACCOUNTING Earlier accounting procedures were simple in comparison with modern methods. The simple bookkeeping procedures of a hundred years ago have placed in many cases by the data-processing computer. The control of the fiscal affairs of an organization must be as scientific as possible in order to be effective.
簿记和会计的区别 与现代的会计方法比较起来，早期的会计程序很简单。一百年前的简单簿记已经 在许多情况下由电子计算机的数据处理所取代。一个单位的财务控制必须做到尽可能科学，这样才会有效 果。
In the past, a bookkeeper kept the books of accounts for an organization; the present-day ac- countants? job developed from the bookkeepers? job. Today, a sharp distinction is made between the relatively unchanged works performed by a bookkeeper and the more sophisticated duties of
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会计英语
the accountants. The bookkeeper simply enters data in financial records books; the accountant must understand entire system of records so that he or she can analyze and interpret business transaction. To explain the difference briefly, the accountant sets up a bookkeeping system and interprets the data in it, whereas the bookkeeper performs the routine work of recording figures in books. Because interpretation of the figures is such an important part of the accountant?s function, accounting has often been described as an art.
过去簿记员的工作是记录一个单位的往来账目，而当今会计师的工作在簿记员的工作有所发展。现在， 人们对簿记员从事的相当不变的工作与会计师所担任的较复杂的工作做了明显的区分。簿记员的工作只是 登记账簿，而会计师必须了解账目的全部体系，从而可以对业务交易进行分析和解释。这一区别简单说来 就是：会计师要设立簿记体系，并对其中的资料进行解释；而簿记员从事的是往账本里记账这样日常的工 作。由于解释账目中数字的工作是会计职能很重要的一部分，会计常常被描述为是一种艺术。
DIVISIONS OF ACCOUNTING The field of accounting is divided into three broad divisions: public, private, and governmental. A certified accountant or a CPA, as the term is usually abbrevi- ated, must pass a series of examinations, after which he or she receives a certificate. In the United States, the certification examinations are prepared and administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The various states or other major governmental jurisdictions set ad- ditional qualifications for residence, experience, and so on. The British equivalent for a CPA is called a charted accountant.
会计种类 会计这一行一般分为三大类：公共会计、私人会计和政府部门会计。注册会计师（或 CPA， 注册会计师的缩写），必须通过一系列考试方可得到证书。在美国，这种资格考试由美国注册会计师协会负 责和实施。各个州或政府其他主要司法部门对申请人的居住地、经历等其他条件做出规定。在英国相当于 CPA 的人叫特许会计师。
CPAs can offer their services to the public on an individual consultant basis for which they receive a fee. In this respect or many others, they are similar to doctors or lawyers. Like them, CPAs may be self-employed or partners in a firm; or they may be employed by an accounting firm.
注册会计师可以就每笔咨询业务向公众提供收费服务。在这方面和许多其它方面，他们与医生和律师 很相似。与医生和律师一样，注册会计师可以是个体经营，也可以是在一个公司合伙经营，他们也可以由 会计公司雇佣。
Many accountants worked in government offices or for nonprofit organizations. These two areas are often joined under the term government and institutional accounting. The two are similar because of legal restrictions in the way in which they receive and spend funds. Therefore, a legal background is sometimes necessary for this type of accounting practice.
许多会计在政府部门或非盈利性组织工作，这两个领域通常被放在一起，称为政府和行政事业单位会 计。这两个领域有相似之处，因为在接受和使用资金方面，它们都受到法律的限制。因此，做这方面的会 计有时需要一些法律经验。
All branches of governments employ accountants. In addition, government-owned corpora- tion have accountants on their staffs. All of these accountants, like those in private industry, work on a salary basis. They tend to become specialists in limited fields like transportation or public utilities.
政府的各部门都雇用会计师，而且，政府所拥有的公司也有它们自己的会计师。所有这些会计师和在 私营行业工作的会计师一样是挣工薪的。他们往往对某些行业或特别领域（如交通，或公共设施方面）的 会计很擅长。
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ACCOUNTING
Nonprofit organizations are, of course, in business for some purpose other than making
money. They include cultural organizations like symphony orchestras or opera societies, charitable organizations, religious groups, or corporate-owned research organizations. Although they are lim- ited in the manner in which they can raise and spend their funds, they usually benefit from special provisions in the tax laws.
当然，非盈利性组织经营的目的不是为了赚钱。这些非盈利性组织包括像交响乐团或歌剧协会这样的 文化组织、慈善组织、宗教团体或公司拥有的研究机构。虽然它们在筹措和使用资金的方式上受到限制， 它们常常可以受益于税法中的某些特别条款。
Private accountants, also called executive or administrative accountants, handle the financial records of a business. Like those who work for government or nonprofit organizations, they are salaried rather than paid a fee. Those who work for manufacturing concerns are sometimes called industrial accountants. Some large corporations employ hundreds of employees in their accounting offices.
私人会计师，也叫做主管或行政会计师，负责处理公司的财务账目。同在政府或非盈利性组织工作的 会计师一样，他们是挣工薪而不是按每笔业务收费。在制造公司工作的会计师有时叫做工业会计师。一些 大公司通常要雇用上百名雇员做会计工作。
The chief accounting officer of a company is the controller, or comptroller, as he or she is sometimes called. Controllers are responsible for maintaining the records of the company?s opera- tions. On the basis of the data that have been recorded, they measure the company?s performance; they interpret the results of the operations; and they plan and recommend future actions. This posi- tion is very close to the top of management. Indeed, a controller is often just a step away from be- ing the executive officer of a corporation.
一个公司最高的会计官员叫会计主任或主计长。会计主任负责保存反映公司经营活动的账目，根据所 记录的数据衡量公司的运作状况，对经营情况做出解释，然后对未来的行动提出计划和建议。这一位置与 最高管理人员非常接近，实际上，会计主任再长一步就可以当一个公司的最高行政长官。
Many people have chosen accounting as a professional because of its many advantages. Many jobs are available, primarily because the education and training for accounting careers have not kept pact with the demand for accounting services. Once on the job, private or governmental accountants have security, and they are usually given the chance to move upward in the company —sometimes, as we have noted, to the top. Salaries for people with accounting training are usually good, even on the lower levels, and for those who rise to the top of the profession, they are corre- spondingly high. Certified public accountants now enjoy professional status similar to that of doc- tors or lawyers.
许多人选择会计师作为自己的职业的是因为它有许多优势。会计行业的就业机会很多，这主要是由于 会计教育和培训工作远远跟不上对会计服务的需要。一旦有了工作，私人或政府部门会计师就有了保障， 而且，他们通常有机会在公司内部得到晋升，像我们提到的，有时可以升到公司的最高层。受过会计训练 的人既使在基层工作，薪水通常也是可观的。那些升到上层的会计师，薪水也相应提高。注册会计师现在 享有和医生、律师一样的职业地位。
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会计英语
Unit Two
The Conventions of Contemporary Accounting (1)
第二单元
现代会计惯例（1）
Accounting conventions are concepts and rules which have been accepted in performing bookkeeping and accounting. It came from a careful observation of accounting practice which re- vealed patterns of consistent behavior.
The existence of conventions was not generally recognized by accountants until the 20th cen- tury. They were developed to aid accountants in exercising judgment and estimation in order to limit likely differences in recording similar events by different accountants. The principal conven- tion of contemporary accounting will be discussed.
会计惯例是在簿记和会计工作中被广为接受的概念和规则，源于对反映了连续一致的会计实务模式的 认真研究。直到二十世纪，会计惯例的存在才被会计界广泛承认。会计惯例的产生有助于会计师进行判断 和估计，以限制不同的会计师对类似的项目采用不同的记账方法。以下将讨论当今主要的会计惯例。
THE ENTITY CONVENTION Contemporary accounting divides the community into sepa- rate units called “accounting entities”. For each accounting entity a self-contained, double-entry accounting system is employed. Transactions between accounting entities are recorded in the ac- counts of both entities. Each accounting entity interprets transactions from its own viewpoint. For example, the same transaction may be recorded as a sale by one accounting entity and as a pur- chase by another. Similarly, one accounting entity may record a transaction as an investment, while the other accounting entity may record it as a capital contribution.
会计主体惯例 现代会计把社会划分为一些独立的单位，叫做会计单位。每一个会计单位都运用独立 的、复式记账的会计体系。会计单位之间的交易在双方的账目上都要登记。每一会计单位都从自己的角度 对交易加以说明。例如：同一笔交易一个会计单位可以被登记为销售；在另一个会计单位则被登记为购买。 同样，一个会计单位可以把一笔交易记为投资，而另一个会计单位可以把它记为缴入资本。
In any particular case the identification of the accounting entity may be difficult. Consider, for example, the case of a large chain of retail stores. Is the accounting entity the whole business, a regional operation, a single store or a single department in that store? The answer can be found only by looking at the organization of the business. If a department has its own accounting system and records transactions with other departments, then it is an entity for accounting purpose. If it has no records, then it is not an accounting entity. The accounting entity is, therefore, identified as the smallest unit of activity with a self-contained accounting system.
在特殊的情况下，很难确定会计单位。例如：对一个零售连锁店来说，会计单位是整个连锁店，地区 经营部门，单独的一个商店还是那个商店的某一部门？只有认真考察了那个公司的组织机构后才能找出答 案。如果一个部门有自己的会计系统，并对其与其他部门的交易记账，那么这个部门就是一个会计单位。 如果它没有这样的账目，那么它就不是一个会计单位。因此，会计单位被定义为有独立会计体系的最小业 务单位。
THE “GOING CONCERN” CONVENTION Contemporary accounting assumes the entity will remain in operation for the foreseeable future. This assumption is known as the “going con- cern” or the “continuity” convention. This assumption does not refer simply to its continued exis- tence. It also assumes that it will continue in the same line of business as those in which it is cur-
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