Branches of accounting

There are totally five major branches of accounting namely:

i)               Financial accounting

ii)             Cost accounting

iii)           Management accounting

iv)            Social responsibility accounting

v)             Human Resources accounting

• Financial accounting is concerned with identification, recording, classifying and summarizing of financial transactions and events and ends up with the preparation of financial statements, namely, trading and profit and loss account or income statement and balance sheet and communication of the same to the interested users.
• Cost accounting relates to collection, classification and ascertainment of cost and exercising control over various elements of costs. It includes the ascertainment of costs of every product, process, service, job or work order. 
• Management accounting  provides necessary information to the management for discharging its functions such as planning, organizing, directing and controlling of business operations. 
• Social responsibility accounting is concerned with the presentation of accounting information by business entities and other organisations from the view point of the society.
•  Human Resources accounting is concerned with identification, quantification and reporting of investments made in human resources of an enterprise.

The difference between Financial accounting and cost accounting, Financial accounting and management accounting, Cost accounting and management accounting is also presented in this discussion.