Text 6. Bookkeepers, accountants and controllers

Bookkeepers deal in taxes, cash flow, which includes cash receipts and cash disbursements, sales, purchases and different business transactions of the company.

Bookkeepers first record all the appropriate figures – in the books of original entry, or Journals. At the end of a period usually a month – the totals of each book of original entry are posted into the proper page of the Ledger. The Ledger shows all the expenditures and all the totals of each account in the Ledger. The bookkeeper prepares a Trial Balance. Trial Balances are usually drawn up every quarter.

The accountant’s responsibility is to analyze and interpret the data in the Ledger and the Trial Balance.

The accountant is to determine the ways in which the business may grow in the future. No expansion or reorganization is planned without the help of the accountant. New products and advertising campaigns are also prepared with the help of the accountant. The work of accountants is rather sophisticated after they pass examinations in Institute of Accountants. Certified accountants in England are called chartered accountants. In the USA the certified accountants are called certified public accountants. But it is not necessary to have a certificate to practice accounting. Junior employees in large companies, for example, often practice accounting and then take examinations. The chief accounting officer of a large company is the Controller, or Comptroller.

Controllers are responsible for measuring the company’s performance. They interpret the results of the operations, plan and recommend future action. This position is very close to the top executives of the company.

Notes to the text:

chartered accountant бухгалтер, бухгалтер-эксперт, аудитор

(certified public accountant, Am.)

book бухгалтерская книга

entry бухгалтерская запись, проводка

to post переносить в главную бухгалтерскую книгу

ledger главная книга

earnings доходы

Trial balance пробный баланс

Exercise 1. Complete according to the text:

Bookkeepers deal in …

Bookkeepers record …

The Ledger shows …

Trial balance are drawn up by … every …

The accountant is to …

Certified accountants in England are called ….

Certified accountants in the USA are called ….

Junior employees …

The chief accounting officer of a large company is …

Controllers are … and they …

This position is very close to …

EXERCISE 2. Complete the text using these words:

Bookkeeping

credits debits double-entry

journals ledger posted

transferred trial balance

Bookkeepers record every purchase and sale that a business makes, in the order that they take place, in (1)… . At a later date, these temporary records are entered in or (2)… to the relevant account book or (3)… . Of course the "books" these days are likely to be computer files. At the end of an accounting period, all the relevant totals are (4)… to the profit and loss account. (5)… bookkeeping records the dual effect of every transaction – a value both received and parted with. Payments made or (6) … are entered on the left-hand (debtor) side of an account, and payments received or (7)… on the right-hand side. Bookkeepers will periodically do a (8) … to test whether both sides of an account book match.

Accountants, unlike bookkeepers, analyze financial records, and decide how to present them.

EXERCISE 3. Add appropriate verbs from the text above to these sentences:

1. Bookkeepers’ business transactions.

2. A debit is a payment

3. A credit is a payment

4. Debits are on the left-hand side.

5. At the bottom of the page, bookkeepers the totals.

6. The auditors the accounts.

7. Accountants, managers and shareholders the accounts.

Exercise 4. Match the remarks on the left with the responses on the right: