What are Accounting Forms? [ Purpose, How to Create, Includes, Importance ]

Whether as a private individual or as a business owner, you need to find a way to regularly monitor and assess your organization’s monetary status. This usually comes in the form of accounting. Individuals may use spending and budget apps or notepads while business entities may use financial accounting forms.

An accounting form, in its simplest iteration, is a visual tool that allows its user/s to keep track of, record, and audit different variables. The types of accounting forms used will generally depend on the end-user (for personal or business use) and the variables that these end-users seek to learn.

What is the Purpose of an Accounting Form?

• Keep Track of Transactions. In businesses, accounting forms are used to keep track of daily business transactions. This may involve orders, deliveries, employee absences, stock earnings, debt repayments, and a lot more plotted into simple accounting forms in PDF form.

• For Record-keeping. Data collected using accounting forms may be kept for a long time. This same set of data may be used to predict sales and growth patterns. Seeing the company status reflected in accounting forms allow business-owners to make reasonable business decisions.

• Simplify Accounting Process. A housewife may use blank accounting forms and allocate the household income accordingly. While a business-owner may need to track earnings, sales, etc on spreadsheets and determine business profits, deficits, and/or losses. The use of apps or spreadsheets simplify the often time-consuming accounting process.

How to Create an Accounting Form

Accounting form creation is easy! Just follow the few steps below:

• First, you need to determine the type/s of business transactions that you wish keep track of. For example, you can create simple accounting expense forms by measuring at least two variables like when funds are dispensed, and for what purpose.
• For new business-owners, you may create your own accounting forms by following accounting form templates.
• When following templates, make sure to change the business name/logo on the form’s header.
• Write the headings for each column/field in the spreadsheet legibly.
• Provide ample space for writing values on each column/field.
• Present a copy of the form to the management or legal department for approval prior to distributing the form for general use.

What to Include in an Accounting Form

When drafting an accounting form, make sure to always include the listed items below. Including these information in your forms ensures the company obtains accurate raw data. If using free accounting forms, you can add in these items right away.

• Company name, logo, business address, contact information
• Name of services/products provided column/field
• Quantity of services/products rendered column/field
• Date when these transactions occurred column/field
• Dollar amounts earned, owed, or spent column/field
• Portion for Manager or Person-In-Charge to Sign
• Company Tax Identification Number (for business accounting forms)
• Invoice Number/s (for business accounting forms) column/field

Importance of Accounting Forms

As mentioned earlier, business accounting forms are essential to most organizations, since they make the accountant’s job easier and faster. Companies also reduce their production costs when using automated spreadsheets to balance their books. The manpower and money spent on traditional accounting methods may then be used towards more viable projects.

Private individuals also benefit from accounting forms when they use them to straighten out their finances. Even the use of simple printable accounting forms can help a parent keep track of and allocate money and resources just like how a financial accounting form helps entrepreneurs look after their respective businesses.