Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting Research Paper

Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting - Research Paper Example To determine how financially healthy a business is, the accounting statements prepared are based on accounting laws which are standardized to allow for fair comparison and the contrast between competing businesses (Rosacker et al, 2009). The language of accounting consists of symbols of currency, graphs, charts, reports and tables which express the business ideas of a company. This is because the accounting language is a clarification of a definite purpose. As such, it is imperative to logically hold that the major accounting purpose emanates from a definition, which is just like any other language which seeks to explain the meaning of term or concept. The genre of the language used can be classified as Metalanguage. Metalanguage is the language which uses symbols to explain or examine language. Such language is prevalent in accounting as the use of unique words such as ‘net income’ ‘equity’, ‘liabilities’, assets’, balance sheet’, ‘financial reports’ among others, creates a meaning which is only specific to business persons and the accounting field. In Meta language used in accounting, less importance is given to explanation or definitions (Pasternak, 2011). Extensive Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a recent Meta language which has been introduced in the field of accounting. The new language seeks to improve the field of accounting by developing a customizable and standardized digital demonstration of accounting aspects such as data extracts, business reports, tax returns and financial statements. This language is an integral part of the accounting profession as it is being integrated into the accounting curriculum. Furthermore, businesses are required to submit their financial information in the form to XBRL to different authorities such as government regulators or the SEC (Cohen et al, 2005). The major method of communication among accountants is the memos and the emails. Memorandums are used to communicate internally with accountants, departments or clients.