This is defined as the period that stretches from the onset of business transactions to the final preparation of financial statements. It involves the sequencing of accounting procedures for purposes of recording, classifying, and summarizing accounting information.
a specified accounting period during which financial information is captured and reported for an economic unit
The sequence of basic accounting procedures during a physical period.
The procedures for analyzing, recording, classifying, summarizing, and reporting the transactions of a business.
the steps that are followed from the initiating of a transaction to the final reporting thereof
The Accounting Cycle is the period of time during which transactions are recorded and reported. The cycle could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Different categories of accounts are typically reviewed after different periods of time.
Since financial reports are given each period (usually a year in government) there are a set of step (cycle) taken each period that result in the reports and preparation for the next period or cycle. The term cycle is used because every period there is a start and an end. In government the cycle usually starts with the budget, goes through the journal entries, adjusting entries, posting to the accounts, financial reports, and closings.
The total set of accounting procedures that must be carried out during each fiscal period.
