The accounting cycle is the coverage for  the whole Principles Of Accounts module.

During the trading period:
1) Transactions (e.g. Purchase goods worth $100 by cash.)
2) Source documents (e.g. Receipts, Invoices, Credit Notes, Debit Notes, etc.)
3) Books of prime entry- i.e. Cashbook, Petty Cashbook, Specialized Journals, General Journal. (e.g. Credit Sales will always be recorded in the Sales Journal.)
4) Ledgers (e.g. From the Purchases Journal, the entries are posted to the correct ledgers: Purchases Account and Debtors’ Account)
At the end of the trading period:
5) Trial Balance- The list of accounts and their balances at a given date.
6) Balance Day Adjustments & Closing Entries (e.g. Accruals and Prepayments)
7) Financial Statements (e.g. Trading, Profit and Loss account, Balance Sheet)

*The above mentioned will be eloborated in further details.

**Adapted from Complete Guide to ‘O’ Levels POA, Vale Alexander
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Next, it is also important for you to know who are the users of the accounting information and the financial statements that you’ve prepared.

Internal Users
1) Management/ Board of Directors
Purpose: Planning, Control, Running and to make decisions for the company
2) Employees
Purpose: Keen and interested to know the prospects and stability of their jobs

External Users
1) Investors
Purpose: Concern about the safety and profitability of their investments
2) Suppliers
Purpose: Concern about the ability of the business to pay for the goods/services provided
3) Creditors/Lenders
Purpose: Concern about the ability of the business to repay loans
4) Customers
Purpose: Concern with the continuity of the business
5) General Public
Purpose: General economic and business opportunities
6) Government
Purpose: Observation of rules, regulations and taxation obligations
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Vanessa Koh