(30) Accounts
An account is a record of all
business transactions relating to a particular person or item. In accounting we
keep a separate record of each individual, asset, liability expense or income.
According to Carter: "An account
is a ledger record in summarised form, of all the transactions that have taken
place with the particular person or things specified."
Accounts
Personal
Accounts
Natural Personal Accounts
Artificial Personal
Accounts
Representative Personal
Accounts
Impersonal
Accounts
Real
Accounts
Tangible Real Accounts
Intangible Real Accounts
Nominal
Accounts
(A) Personal Accounts
The accounts which relate to an
Individual, firm, company or institution are called personal Accounts. Account
of Mohan, Account of X Ltd, Bank Account, Drawling Accounts etc.
(i) Natural personal Accounts:
Accounts of Natural persons means the accounts of human
beings. For example: Mohan's Account, Schan's Account, Debtors's Account,
Creditors Account etc.
(ii) Artificial Personal Accounts:
Those accounts do not have physical existence as human beings
but they work as personal accounts. For example any firm's account, any
company's account, any institutions account etc.
(iii) Representative Personal Accounts:
When an account represents a particulars person or group of person, it is
termed representative personal account. Salary outstanding, Prepaid Rent
Account, Accrued Interest and Unearned Commission etc.
(B)Real Account:
The Accounts of all those things
whose value can be measured in terms of money and which are the properties of
the business are termed as Real accounts : For example : Cash Account,
Furniture Account, Machinery Account, Goodwill account etc.
(i) Tangible Real Accounts:
Tangible real accounts are the accounts of those things which
can be touched, felt, measured, purchased, sold etc. Like: Cash Account, Stock
account, Furniture account, Land account etc.
(ii) Intangible Real Accounts:
Those accounts represent such things which cannot be touched
but of course their value can be measured in terms of money. Examples are:
Goodwill Accounts, Patents Account, Trade mark account etc.
(C) Nominal Accounts:
Those Accounts includes the accounts
of all Expenses and Incomes.
The Examples of Nominal accounts
relating to Expenses are Salaries Paid, Rent Paid, Discount allowed etc.
The examples of nominal accounts
relating to income are commission received, interest received, discount
received etc.