Accountability Through Accounting

As an individual or business there is need for a- Accuracy in Accounting is critical - One would
level of accountability to ensure your life orrather not have accounting information that
business is governed above board. Accounting isaccumulate papers which are not accurate. With
part of the business systems every businesswrong data, wrong decisions are made. No one
must have to help manage the resources andcan be brought to account. It is costly to make
processes. You can only tell the health of thedecisions based on incomplete or wrong
company if you have the correct Accountinginformation.
system in place. One of the reason behind the- Accountability is for the entire workforce -
failure of some businesses is the fact that thereSometimes people assume that the finance
is minimal or no accountability of the leaders topeople by virtue of dealing with accounts need to
the board or the board to the employees and sobe accountable. Everyone has to account for
on. If no one can be held responsible for thewhat they do, how they do it and why.
business' performance then that business suffers- Accountability is pivotal for proper corporate
from stunted growth.governance - There can never be proper
- Accounting enhances accountability - Accountinggovernance of a business without clear
produces the much needed financial performanceaccountability structures.
reporting which the Directors can use to bringI have watched over the years that situations
employees to account. We can easily tell the levelwhere I have refused to be accountable, I have
of performance of a leader by simply analyzingslowed down in making the desired progress in life.
the profit they managed to make in a monthI remember when I would keep to myself with
through the strict accounting policies.no one that could speak into my life, at that point
- Accounting tells the health of a business -I did the most mischievous things in life. Why not?
Before any investor gets involved in a business,I had no one who could look at me sternly in the
they check the health status of the business theyface and tell me as it is. My wife taught me how
are about to invest in. This happens when theaccountability can be achieved through accounting
accounting system produces the reports.with the way she handled family accounting issues
sometimes the financials are published in the pressto the last cent. She is one very accountable
and signed off by the company secretary whoperson I know. Sadly, I still lag behind in this area. I
then assumes full or total responsibility orspend first and sometimes forget to keep those
accountability for the correctness of theconcerned informed about my financial actions.
information.