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When I introduce accounting to my students, I often reference old-fashioned definitions that incorporate terms like "economic" and "communication". However, I also incorporate more up-to-date perspectives on what accounting entails, including non-financial item accounting and resource accounting. It's important to me that my students understand the communicative aspect of accounting - data transformed into information is only valuable if it's effectively communicated.

Recently Carnegie et al. (2021) published a really great commentary on what accounting is. As well as giving some very useful historic background, they provide a definition of accounting as follows:

The practice of accounting involves utilizing resources sustainably and being accountable to stakeholders to promote the growth of organizations, people, and the environment. I agree with this definition, which was presented by Gary Carnegie in a compelling manner. However, I think it's important to emphasize the role of communication in accounting. Without information, decisions in business cannot be made, and communication is necessary for this information to be conveyed. Therefore, it would be beneficial to include a statement about the importance of communication in the operationalization of the definition. While some may argue that accountability implies communication, I believe that there have been instances in industry where better communication could have led to greater accountability. Ultimately, communication is integral to accounting and should not be overlooked.

Just like the field of accounting, languages and word meanings are subject to change over time. However, if they are not utilized for communication purposes, they will eventually fade away.