The role of accounting in business is to organize, inform, and hold a business accountable.

Accounting organizes the activity of a business as well as what it has and who owns it through the accounting equation that is at the heart of double-entry accounting. This system produces information that the business and stakeholders can use to make decisions and evaluate opportunities. Accounting also allows a business to report what it does to the government or stakeholders and be held to account in terms of actions and taxation.