Define accounting and discuss its functions?

Accounting is often called the language of business. The basic function of any lan-guage is to serve as a means of communication. In this context, the purpose of ac-counting is to communicate or report the results of business operations and its various aspects. Though accounting has been defined in various ways. According to one commonly accepted definition. "Accounting is the art of recording, classifying and summarising in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are; in part at least, of financial character and interpreting the results thereof'. Another definition which is less restrictive interprets accounting as "The process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit informed judgements and decisions by the users of information