Introduction

Abstract

This chapter starts by setting the scene beyond accounting and accountancy, presenting a brief history of accounting and the different types of business entities with their legal characteristics. Differences between financial and managerial accounting and the connections between accounting and taxation are revealed, from an international perspective, but also touching on Romania’s particular case. Further on, the reader gets familiar with different roles of accounting, levels of user needs, availability of information and complexity of the ‘language of business’. The different types of business entities are presented also in their role of accounting information providers. The end of the chapter contains quizzes and exercises, meant to guide readers’ curiosity further into better understanding of the accounting phenomena. As a conclusion, we propose chapter summary questions and their answers.