Accounting vs. accountancy

[Torsten]

Hi, what is the difference between accounting and accountancy. I mean, you can work in the accounting department of a company and you can also work in accountancy, can't you?

Thanks and a have good Friday,
Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Alan]

Hi Torsten,

I'll have a go at this and draw an analogy with two other words - transfer and convey. Transfer becomes transferring and describes the activity of moving from one place to another and transference is the process followed. Likewise convey becomes conveying and can be used in a legal sense to suggest moving property from one person to another and conveyance or conveyancing is the actual process. I would then refer to accounting which is the activity of preparing financial matters and accountancy again is the process by which this is done.

That's the best I can do at this time in the morning.

Regards

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Are you a Persuader?

[Yankee]

Hi

My gut reaction is similar to, but also a little different from Alan's description.

My first reaction would be to think of "accountancy" more as a profession or even a company that does accounting (not just part of a company, i.e. a department).

And "accounting" would be the actual activity or process.

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English