Definition of an account is proof in the general ledger that is used to accumulate and store debit and credit amounts. The account is an outline of pertinent business transactions at one place relating to a person, asset, expense or profits named in the heading. So, an account is a short record of financial transactions of an exacting person or company. An account has two sides called debit side and credit side. For example, a company will have a Cash account in which each transaction involving cash is recorded. If the company sells merchandise for cash, the Cash account will be debited and the Sales account will be credited.
An account refers to assets, liabilities, income, expenses, and equity, as represented by person ledger pages, to which changes in value are chronologically recorded with debit and credit entries. The yearly accounts of a registered or integrated firm are required by law to release a definite amount of information.
