Accounting Basics
Accounting is all about numbers. It is the process by which a company balances its books, and calibrates its outgoing and incoming income against each other. Accounting records the nature and value of each transaction performed by the company. This includes the purchase of a service, product or material, the sale of a service or product, and expenditures of any other kind, including staff wages, taxes paid by the organization, overheads for company premises or interest on financial loans.
Aspects of Accounting
Accounting comprises several elements, including identifying, recording and communicating financial information about the company. Accountants must determine the nature of each financial transaction, to place it in the relevant category of debit or credit. They record all of these transactions, typically using computerized accountancy programs, and then fashion the figures into reports that they disseminate to relevant parties, such as staff and management. For a publicly listed company, accounting records are made available to shareholders and other stakeholders in the success of the business, such as financial institutions from which the company has borrowed money. Accountants may also suggest ways to improve the fiscal situation of a company after analyzing all of the company figures.
Marketing Basics
Marketing concerns public relations between a company and its customers. It is concerned with the company getting the right product into the right places to satisfy a need identified in its customer base. It is also about ensuring that customers are aware of the availability of a company’s product, through means such as advertising and other product promotions.
Aspects of Marketing
A successful marketing strategy contains several inter-twined elements. The company must produce a product or service that has suitable quality, design, branding and packaging. The product or service needs to be available to customers, which involves management of distribution, inventory and retail. The company must correctly set the price, and promote the product or service through relevant media and advertising channels to stimulate customer awareness. The company’s staff, be they sales representatives, retail operatives or customer liaison personnel must be knowledgeable of the product or service, and offer excellent customer service. In addition, the company must use suitable processes, such as operations management, to ensure they effectively coordinate all these aspects of marketing.
