Where is there a need?

Accounting refers to the system which businesses use to record their financial transactions. 

All businesses need to be able to record their transactions, this information is needed to report back to shareholders, bankers and other people who may have an interest in the business' performance. 

Besides from the obvious legal and tax requirements, accounting is also needed so that a business can accurately track its progress. With proper accounting procedures a business will even be able to tell if their staff is stealing from them!

Businesses can use accounting records to help compare their performance either within departments in the company, in different years or with different businesses. Information gained can then be used to make better business decisions in conjunction with other relevant information such as economics (see 101-economics.blogspot.com)

Because accounting records are objective and not subjective, they are more reliable than other sources of comparisons.