accounting

plural accountings

1. uncountableusuallybusinessThe development and use of a system for recording and analyzing the financial transactions and financial status of an individual or a business.

   British Railways are beginning to reap the advantages of electronics applied to accounting. At Swindon Works, a computor, the first of its type to be used anywhere in the world, was installed recently to deal with the pay of some 10,000 employees.

   1957 November 28, “Electronics in Railway Accountancy”, in Railway Magazine, page 746

2. uncountableusuallyA relaying of events; justification of actions.

   He was required to give a thorough accounting of his time.

3. uncountableusuallylawAn equitable remedy requiring wrongfully obtained profits to be distributed to those who deserve them.

   In contrast, an accounting for profits, or accounting— a distinct form of relief that the majority groups with disgorgement — has a well-accepted definition: It compels a defendant to account for, and repay to a plaintiff, those profits that belong to the plaintiff in equity.

   2020, Liu v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court No. 18-1501), Justice Thomas dissenting

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of account

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:accounting.