会计英语学习资料

ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ACCOUNTING

action before recording in the books. For many transactions the evidence is documentary, for ex- ample, invoices, receipts, cash register type and credit notes. The documentary evidence is the stimulus for recording transactions.

客观性惯例 在会计人员对计量方法有选择的情况下，如果其它项目相同，最好选择最具有客观性的 方法。会计人员要尽可能地避免在会计记录和报告中加入猜测和估计。在实际中客观性指的是在交易入账 之前会计人员要掌握交易存在的凭证和交易的数额。许多交易的凭证是文件形式的，如发票、收据、现金 出纳机磁带和贷项通知单。文件形式的凭证有利于记录经济业务。

Accountants prefer objectivity for two reasons. First, it makes the accountant?s job easier. Routine rule-following is easier than a careful examination of each transaction to determine a rea- sonable amount for recording purpose. Second, reliance upon documentary evidence and generally accepted accounting procedures provides accountants with some support if their professional competence is questioned. It is a more convincing defense to produce evidence to support ac- counting records or to argue that generally accepted procedures were used than to assert that the entries seemed reasonable at the time.

会计人员喜欢客观性有两个原因。第一，它减轻了会计人员的工作强度。按常规记账比对每一笔交易 都要进行认真复核以确定应入账的合理数额要容易。第二点，文件形式的凭证和普遍接受的程序可以为会 计人员在他们的专业能力受到怀疑时提供一些证明。出示证明会计记录的凭证，或申辩使用的是普遍接受 的程序比宣称会计处理在当时看起来是合理的，是更具有说服力的防卫手段。

THE MATERIALITY CONVENTION It is contemporary accounting practice to record and report separately only those transactions which are material. An item is judged to be material if it is important enough to influence the decisions of statement users. Some items are material because they are large. For example, a large bad-debt write-off would usually be regarded as a material event. Some items are material because they are small. For example, a very low inventory figure may be judged to be material if it reflects unfavorably on a firm?s liquidity. Some items may be material if they differ significantly in amount from the same item in earlier periods. For example, a small bad-debt write-off may be judged material if it is twice as large as normal. Some items may be judged to be material solely because of their nature and regardless of their relative size. For example, the sales figure would probably be material no matter how large, how small or how variable it was.

重要性惯例 只对那些重要的交易单独记录和报告。当一个项目重要到可以影响报表用户的决定时， 它就被判断为重要的项目。有些项目重要是因为它数额大。例如，冲销一笔大的坏账通常被认为是重要事 项。有些项目重要是因为它们数额小。例如，假如小的存货余额反映了一个公司清偿能力的不足，那它就 可能被判定为重要项目。有些项目如果比前期同类项目在数额上存在巨大差距，也可能就是重要的项目。 例如，一笔数额不大的坏账冲销如果比正常情况要大一倍的话，它可以被判断为重要。有些项目被判断为 重要仅仅是因为它们的性质，而与它们的金额无关。例如，销售额可能是重要的，而不论其规模是大还是 小，变化多大。

Materiality has two principal applications. One is in the processing and the other is in disclo- sure.

重要性有两个重要的应用领域。一个是在记账过程中，另一个是在信息揭示的过程中。

In recording process, accountant must decide how much detail is necessary. Are separate ledger accounts needed for every asset or could some assets be grouped under a general heading, for example, “plant and equipment”? In general, ledger accounts would be maintained only if they contained material data. All not-material items would be aggregated in “sundry accounts”. In other

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会计英语

words, the decision of accounting system should be strongly influenced by considerations of ma- teriality.

在记账过程中，会计人员必须决定要记到何种详细程度。是不是每项资产都要单设分类账，有一些资 产可不可以集中在一个总的科目，如“固定资产”之下？一般来说，分类账上只记录重要数据，那些非重 要项目都综合记入杂项账户。换言之，会计体系的确定受到重要性因素的强烈影响。

The second aspect of materiality relates to disclosure. Accountants use the notion of material- ity as a criterion to decide how much detail to include in financial reports. If a piece of information is not material, then it should not be disclosed separately. For example, nowadays nearly all pub- lished financial statements omit cents and most show dollar amounts rounded to the nearest thou- sand. Any greater detail is judged to be not material.

重要性的第二个方面与公开财务状况有关。会计人员把重要性的概念作为决定在财务报告里所包括的 内容的详细程度的标准。如果一份资料不重要的话，那么就不应该单独公布。例如：如今几乎所有公布的 财务报表都省去了美分，一般都把美元四舍五入到千位，比这更为详细的情况被判断为不重要。

THE ACCOUNTING PERIOD CONVENTION It is contemporary accounting practice to measure the result of an entity?s operation over a relatively short period and to present a balance sheet at frequent intervals.

会计期间惯例 现代会计实务是对一个单位在较短期间内的经营成本进行计量，并定期编报资产负债 表。

The economic activity of a business is continuous. All transaction are recorded in the ac- counts and change the picture of the firm, as revealed in financial statements. The firm changes continuously as it carries out its operations. Changes cease only when the firm cease operations. In this world of continuity of operations and change, accountants are required by law to report on financial position and results at least annually. This requirement for annual reporting is a relatively modern development. Even as late as the 19th century major businesses presented financial state- ments at irregular and lengthy intervals. Annual reporting probably arose from the demands of investors, owners, creditors and taxation authorities who were not prepared to wait until the end of a firm?s life before the success of its operation was measured.

一个公司的经济活动是具有连续性的，所有的交易都记在账目上，不断地改变着公司的形象，正如在 财务报表中所反映的那样。公司在经营的过程不断地发生着变化，只有当公司停止经营时，这种变化才会 停止。在这个持续经营和变化的世界里，法律要求会计人员对财务状况和财务成果至少每年要报告一次。 要求企业编报年度报表的做法出现的时间并不长，甚至至十九世纪，主要大公司提出财务报表的时间还是 不定期的，比现在的时间间隔要长。年度报表主要是应那些不想等到公司终止经营，在其经营是否成功的 结果出来之前就想了解一些情况的投资者、业主、贷款人和税收当局的要求而产生的。

The accounting period convention does, however, lead to difficulties. First, it should be real- ized that the shorter the reporting period the greater the need for estimates and judgment. Over a short period, few transactions will be completed and there will be more accruals and deferrals than for longer period. Incorporating accruals and deferrals into the accounts increase the subjectivity of financial statements. In addition, financial reports for short periods may provide misleading impressions of the long-run prospects for the firm. A balance sheet represents a “snapshot” of the entity?s financial position at an instant of time. Immediately before and after the date of the bal- ance sheet, the financial position is different. Bye the time the balance sheet is published the fi- nancial position of the firm may have changed dramatically. As a result, the balance sheet is out of date the day after the end of the accounting period, and by the time it is published; it is of histori-

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ACCOUNTING

cal interest only.

但是，会计期间惯例也确实引起了一些麻烦。首先，应该认识到，报告的期间越短，越需要估计和判 断。在短的期间内，完成的交易会很少，应计和递延项目比较多，在账目中考试应计和递延项目因素增加 了财务报表的主观性。此外，短期财务报表会对公司长远的前景产生误导性的印象。资产负债表是表示一 个公司一时的财务状况的“快照”，在资产负债表公布前或公布后，公司的财务状况会有巨大的变化。其结 果是资产负债表在会计年度停止的那天就过时了，在它发表的时候，它只具有历史意义了。

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会计英语

Unit Four

Accounting Equation and Double Entry

第四单元

会计等式与复式记账法

The financial condition or position of a business enterprise is represented by the relationship of assets to liabilities and capital.

一个企业的财务是由资产对负债和资本的关系来表示的。

Assets are properties that are owned and have monetary value; for instance, cash, inventory, buildings, equipments.

资产是指企业所拥有的、具有货币价值的财产，如现金、存货、建筑物、设备。

Liabilities are amounts owned to outsiders, such as notes payable, accounts payable, bonds payable. Liabilities may also include certain deferred items, such as income taxes to be allocated.

负债是欠外部的数额，如应付票据、应付账款、应付债券。负债还可以包括某些递延的项目，如待分 配的所得税。

Capital is the interest of the owner in an enterprise. Also known as owner?s equity.

资本是企业所有者的利益，也称之为业主权益。

These three basic elements are connected by fundamental relationship called balance-sheet equation, sometimes called simply the accounting equation.

This equation expresses the equality of the assets on one side with the claims of the creditors and owners on the other side:

Assets = Liability + Capital.

这三个基本的要素由一个叫做资产负债表等式、有时称之为会计等式的关系式联系起来。这个等式表 示的是：一边的资产与另一边的负责和所有者权益的平衡关系，即：

资产=负债+资本

According to the accounting equation, a firm is assumed to possess its assets subject to the rights of the creditors and owners.

根据会计等式，一个公司所拥有的资产应该等于债权人和所有者对企业的索取权总值。

The equilibrium which the bookkeeping record achieves through the accounting equation is an essential feature of double entry. The creation of assets within an enterprise is always accom- panied by the incurring of identical financial obligations, either to the properties of the enterprise (owner?s equity) or to outside creditors (liabilities). The derivation of profit is always accompa- nied by an identical increase in the net assets (i.e. assets minus liabilities) of the enterprise. It is now possible to see how double-entry bookkeeping produces this equilibrium of results by ensur- ing that the equation holds well at all times.

簿记记录通过运用会计等式所达到的平衡关系是复式记账的一个重要特点。一个公司资产的形成总伴 随着同样数额的财务责任的出现，不是以企业业主（业主权益），就是以外部债权人（负债）的形式出现。 利润的获得也总是伴随着企业净资产，也就是资产减去负债，出现等额的增加。现在可以看一下复式记账 法通过保证会计等式在任何时候都有效来获得这种会计等式的平衡关系。

Examplev1:

Assume that a business owned assets $100 000, owed the creditors $80 000, and owed the owner $20 000. The accounting equation would be:

Assets = Liabilities + Capital $100 000 $80 000 $20 000

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