Liability refers to the financial obligation of the business.

Accounting was done by Stewards who managed the properties of wealthy people. They rendered accounts periodically to the owners of property. The Stewardship accounting is said to be the root of accounting.

(i) A person who owns the business is called proprietor.
(ii) He contributes capital to the business with the intention of earning profit.

There are three bases of accounting in common usage, namely
(i) Cash Basis
(ii) Accrual or mercantile basis
(iii) Mixed or hybrid basis

(i) Measurement :
1. The main function of accounting is to keep systematic record of business transactions, post them to the ledger and ultimately to prepare the final accounts.
2. It also shows the current financial position of the business enterprises.
(ii) Comparison :
1. Accounting helps to compare the actual performance with the planned performance.
2. It is also possible to compare with the accounting policies.

External users are the persons who are outside the organisation but make use of accounting information for their own purposes. They are:
(i) Creditors and Financial institutions:
1. Suppliers of goods and services, commercial banks, public deposit holders, debenture holders etc; are included in this category.
2. They are interested in the liquidity position and repaying capacity of the business to know the safety of getting the interest and get back the principal amount.
(ii) Investors:
1. Persons who are interested in investing their surplus funds should know about the financial condition of a business unit while making their investment decisions.
2. They are more interested in future earning and risk.
(iii) Customers :
1. Those who use the products and services of a firm are interested in knowing the justification for the prices charged to them.
2. They examine the expenses, sales and profits to see if they are paying fair prices for the products and services.
(iv) Tax authorities:
1. Accounting information helps them in computing goods and services Tax, Income tax etc., to be collected from business units.
2. They scrutinise the revenues and expenses of business firms to determine their accuracy. "
(v) Government:
1. Government also administers prices of certain trades.
2. In such cases, government agencies have to ensure that the guidelines for pricing are followed.
vi) Researchers:
Researchers to carry out their research can make use of the published financial statements in their analysis and evaluation.

Accounting cycle is the sequence of steps involved in the accounting process. Accounting cycle starts with the identification and recording of financial transactions of an organisation and ends with the preparation of final accounts for the accounting year. The steps involved are:
(i) Identifying the transactions and journalising :
(1) The first step in the accounting process is identifying the financial transactions of a business.
(2) All the monetary transactions are recorded in the books of original entry called journals.  
(ii) Posting and balancing:
(1) Transferring the entries from the journal. to the ledger is called posting.
(2) In the ledger, entries are made in each account after classifying them under common heads. Finding the difference between the total of the debit column and credit column of all the ledger accounts is called balancing.
(iii) Preparation of trial balance:
(1) The list of ledger balances namely trial balance is prepared as the next step.
(2) On the basis of ledger balances the financial statements are prepared.
(iv) Preparation of trading account:
(1) Next step is preparation of trading account for a particular accounting period.
(2) All the direct revenues and direct expenses are transferred to trading account.
(3) The balance in the trading account is the gross profit or gross loss.
(v) Preparation of profit and loss account:
(1) Profit and loss account is prepared next for a particular accounting period.
(2) All the indirect revenues and indirect expenses along with gross profit or gross loss are transferred to profit and loss account.
(3) The balance in the profit and loss account is the net profit or net loss.
(vi) Preparation of balance sheet:
(1) A statement showing the balances of assets and liabilities namely balance sheet is prepared as the final step in the accounting process.
(2) It is prepared on a particular date, normally, on the last day of the accounting period.

(i) In the earliest days of civilisation, accounting was done by stewards who managed the properties of wealthy people. They rendered accounts periodically to the owners of property.
(ii) The stewardship accounting is said to be the root of accounting. Records of debit and credit were found in the 12^th century itself.
(iii) In 1494, Luca Pacioli an Italian developed double-entry book-keeping system.
(iv) Due to the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19^th centuries, large scale operations were carried on and joint stock companies emerged as an important form of organisation which required separation of ownership from management.
(v) Hence, to safeguard the interest of owners and investors, the business establishments required detailed information about business which paved the way for development of comprehensive financial accounting information system.
(vi) In the 20^th century, the need for analysis of financial information for managerial decision making caused emergence of Management Accounting as a separate branch of accounting.
(vii) Though accounting was individual centric in the initial stage of evolution of accounting, it has gradually developed into Social Responsibility Accounting in the 21^st century, due to the vast growth in business activities as a result of development in various fields.

An accountant designs the accounting procedures for an enterprise. He plays several roles in an organisation as follows:
(i) Record keeper :
1. The accountant maintains a systematic record of financial transactions.
2. He also prepares the financial statements and other financial reports.
(ii) Provider of information to the management :
The accountant assists the management by providing financial information required for decision making and for exercising control.
(iii) Protector of business assets :
The accountant maintains records of assets owned by the business which enables the management to protect and exercise control over these assets.
(iv) Financial advisor :
The accountant analyses financial information and advises the business managers regarding investment opportunities, strategies for cost savings, capital budgeting, provision for future growth and development, expansion of enterprise, etc.
(v) Tax Manager :
1. The accountant ensures that tax returns are prepared and filed correctly on time and payment of tax is made on time.
2. The accountant can advisee the managers regarding tax management, reducing tax burden, availing tax exemptions, etc.
(vi) Public relation officer :
The accountant provides accounting information to various interested users for analysis as per their requirements.

The various branches of accounting are

(i) Financial Accounting :
1. It involves recording of financial transactions and events.
2. It provides financial information to the users for taking decisions.
3. It ends up with the preparation of trading and profit and loss account and balance sheet,
(ii) Cost Accounting :  
It involves the collection, recording, classification and appropriate allocation of expenditure for the determination of the costs of products or services and for the presentation of data for the purposes of cost control and managerial decision making.
(iii) Management Accounting :
It is concerned with the presentation of accounting information in such a way as to assist management in decision making and in the day - to - day operations of an enterprise.
(iv) Social Responsibility Accounting :
It is concerned with presentation of accounting information from the view point of the society by showing the social costs and social benefits.
(v) Human Resource Accounting :
It is concerned with identification, quantification, and reporting of investments made in human resources of an enterprise.

In India, 23 centuries ago, Chandragupta Maurya's. Minister Kautilya wrote a book named 'Arthashastra', wherein some references can be traced regarding the way of maintaining accounting records.
In the earliest days of civilisation, accounting was done by Stewards who managed the properties of wealthy people. They rendered accounts periodically to the owners of property.
In 1494, Luca Pacioli an Italian developed double-entry book-keeping system which paved way to modem accounting approach later. Finally during 18^th and 19^th centuries, large scale operations by joint stock companies which paved way for development of comprehensive financial accounting information system.

Earlier the role of Accounting was limited to recording of transactions. Now, it has shifted to providing information to managers and interested parties, to help them take appropriate decision. It is now regarded as an information system.

a) Income:
 Income is the difference between revenue and expense.
b) Expense:
(i) Expenses is the amount spent in order to produce and sell the goods and services.
(ii) For example, purchase of raw materials, payment of salaries, wages etc.
 c) Revenue:
Revenue means the amount receivable or realised from sale of goods and earnings from interest, dividend, commission, etc.