Principles of Accounting and Taxation: Ensuring Financial Compliance and Accuracy

Accounting and taxation are essential components of financial management for businesses and individuals alike. Proper accounting practices help track and report financial transactions accurately, while taxation ensures compliance with legal obligations. In this article, we will explore the principles of accounting and taxation, their significance, and how they contribute to financial stability and compliance.

Principles of accounting and taxation is aimed at persons who wish to qualify and work or practice as corporate secretaries, policy formulators, and consultants in governance, governance and compliance auditors and administrators at county and national levels and in the private sector.

This unit covers the competencies required to maintain the financial accounts for profit and not for
profit entities. Competencies include: applying the legal and conceptual framework in preparation
of financial statements, accounting for assets and liabilities for different entities, using financial
ratios to analyse financial statements, preparing financial statements for different entities, preparing
financial statements from incomplete records and identifying concepts and techniques used in
accounting for public entities.

A candidate who passes this paper should be able to:
• Prepare books of original entry and basic ledger accounts under the double entry system
• Compute basic financial statements of corporations and not for profit organisations
• Do non-complex tax computations for individuals and corporations
• Interpret information in financial and tax statements for decision making.