AbstractA widely accepted language is necessary for a business or organization to effectively communicate its results and position to stakeholders, which is why accounting has become known as the " language of business". Accounting is actually the means of providing financial information to others. The financial analyst then takes the data that accountants have compiled in the form of reports and makes educated guesses about what their company should do next. David Ballast (1996) states: "The fact remains that accounting and finance are the primary tools for reducing business problems and opportunities to a common denominator, setting objectives, measuring results and making decisions." (p. 1)Accounting and financeDistinguish between accounting and financeBoth accounting and finance deal with money and assets; however, they are categorically different concepts. This part of the essay will discuss the differences between accounting and finance. Examples of different concepts will be provided for both practices. Accounting as a discipline is more of a law, while finance is more of a theoretical practice. Accounting has clearly defined guidelines, rules and regulations. As defined by Wikipedia (2005), “accounting is the measurement, disclosure, or provision of assurance about information that helps managers and other decision makers make resource allocation decisions.” Two key disciplines in accounting are financial accounting and auditing. Financial accounting involves processes by which financial information about a company is recorded, classified, summarized, interpreted, and communicated (Wikipedia, 2005). Auditing is related to financial accounting, but is a separate discipline. "Auditing is the process... half of paper......ng Paper. Marshall, D., McManus, W., & Viele, D. (2004). Accounting: What the Numbers Mean. [ Text electronic University of Phoenix Custom Edition]. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved December 30, 2005, from the University of Phoenix MBA 503 website English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2005, from Answers.com http://www.answers.com/topic/financeTutor2u. 2005). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 20, 2005 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AccountingWikipedia 2. (2005). December 2005 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance.