**2. Accounting overview**

Accounting is an information that collects financial data from the operations of a business entity to create financial statements which consist of an integral part of financial communication so that related parties are informed about the financial situation, financial performance, and cash flows of a business. In recent years, financial reporting side of accounting became very important rather than traditional bookkeeping side of accounting. Within the framework of transparency and accountability concepts of corporate governance, countries started to integrate International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into their regulations so that publicly accountable entities can prepare understandable, reliable, transparent, comparative financial statements particularly to investors and creditors in the global context. In addition, some countries started to adopt "think small first approach" in terms of nonpublicly accountable entities focusing on financial reporting based on the size of a business enterprise. That is why either they adopted International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) or they prepared a new financial reporting standard under the influence of international practices and national accounting rules by considering some exemptions in order not to create additional reporting costs for small and micro-sized entities [1]. Even if this is the case, there are still some countries that continue to use their national GAAP.

On the other hand, another reporting issue that complements financial reporting refers to corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting gives (1) economics data, (2) environmental data, and (3) social data about a business entity [2]. Therefore, financial reporting data of a business enterprise is supported by other three aspects of a business so that related parties are informed about the business entity as a whole.

No matter which accounting practice is adopted by a business enterprise, financial statements create the basis and provide the necessary infrastructure so that investors and creditors can financially analyze the business entity using different scenarios such as financial development and survivorship under different accounting metrics.
