How can visual art be related to or used in accounting major - Research Paper Example

submitted: How can visual art be related to or used in accounting major The following paper answers the question of how can visual arts be related to the accounting majors. The paper will discuss both the individual terminologies separately and a link between the two fields shall be established. Before commenting on the utility of the visual arts in the field of accounting, it is imperative that the terms ‘visual arts’ and ‘accounting’ should be discusses in detail. VISUAL ARTS Primarily speaking, Visual Arts are the form of arts which are visual in nature, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, crafts, design and printmaking. The modern form of visual arts includesfilmmaking, photography and video. But the canvas of the visual arts is not only limited to the above mentioned fields. It can also be amalgamated with other forms of arts to produce examples like performing arts, textile arts and conceptual arts (Barnes, 1937). If the field of visual arts is analyzed further, it can be seen that there are different branches within the scope of visual arts which have developed with the emergence of technologies which make the field more diversified discipline than ever before. These branches include decorative arts and crafts, fine arts and applied arts (Hugh et al, 2009). Decorative arts are a concept of which have been usually been related to the design and manufacture of functional objects. It may include interior design, but not necessarily architecture. The decorative arts have been usually considered in complete contrast with the fine arts whose only purpose is to been seen. Decorative arts include fixed (for instance wallpaper) and moveable arts (for instance carpets). Applied arts are the branch of visual arts which have been very recently associated with it. This is because of the growing use of technology in the field of arts. This is the sub category of visual arts which shall be the prime focus of this paper because of its involvement in the field of accounting. With the emergence of technology, the concept of applying the arts into different fields for enhancing the field’s performance and utility has also emerged. Thus, the forms of art which developed were as diverse as industrial design, fashion design and interior design (Don, 1989). ACCOUNTING The term accountancy is the name given to the process of sharing the financial information about the business to its different stakeholders (Narayan, 2005). The reason for this communication is for analyzing the current financial position and for predicting the future trends. This communication is carried out through the financial statements which are relevant to the different stakeholders simultaneously. Accountancy is generally associated with recording, analyzing, summarizing and disseminating the relevant financial information for the organization. The Use of Visual Arts in Accounting There used to be an era when accounting was just reserved for bookkeeping. The process of this bookkeeping was carried out using manual tools and practices. This was the time when the concept of accounting as a measure of future growth and increase competence was not given much attention. But in today’s day and age an organization just cannot even think about accounting just as a discipline of bookkeeping. This is because of the increased competition and the rapidly changing nature of the marketplace. If today a company does not look ahead of its time, it will be run over by the rival companies. Thus, keeping in view this background, accounting is not only used for bookkeeping, but also for forecasting future trends and opportunities of the organization as compared to its rivals and the demand for its products. Visual arts have become vital for the accounting process today. Accounting has been amalgamated with the visual arts through the applied arts. As it is clear that the applied arts use field specific principles and combine it with the visual arts discipline so that the facts and figures of the business can be illustrated on the screen diagrammatically. The two specific areas in which the visual arts are used are the analysis of current financial performance of the company and the future trends and prospects. The current financial performance of the company needs help from visual arts because it is not easy for the top management to understand the difficult analysis of the performance using accounting terminologies. The visual arts display the performance in the understandable form of bar charts, pie charts, graphs and other forms of graphics so that the top management can easily evaluate the position of the organization even if the top management is not accountancy literate. The second area is the future prediction in which the visual arts are extremely important. The different software of application oriented design use the applied arts to analyze the historic trend of the finances of the company and thus predict the future course of action for the company after looking at the different mechanisms of evaluation such as SWOT analysis. The visual arts in this case ease the complexity of the historic as well as the future analysis in the form of different charts and graphs (Daniel, 1986). The extent to which the use of applied arts is helpful in accounting is the passion of the top management’s attitude towards the growth and prosperity of the organization. If the management is committed to always be on the lookout for opportunities of growth, and is committed always acquire the competitive edge over its competitors, its will definitely use the applied art techniques. Moreover, the use of visual arts is directly proportional to the inability of the top management to understand the technical jargons as far as accountancy is concern. If the management is itself accountancy literate, it does not need the services of the visual art techniques, but if the management finds it difficult to analyses the performance using the accounting jargons, it can effectively utilize the visual arts. CONCLUSION Visual arts and accountancy have traditionally been two entirely different disciplines. Visual arts have been regarded as a form aesthetical paradigms and accountancy have been traditionally kept just for bookkeeping functions. It is the emergence of the new century which has brought with the concept of increased competition and the competitive marketplace. This has led to evolvement of both the fields and technology has played its part effectively well in this regard. The other important aspect which has been developed is that the two fields have been joined together and produced specific application based arts. When it comes to accountancy, visual arts can help it in two areas which are evaluating current position of the organization and predicting the future possibilities respectively. The success of the arts in accounting is dependent upon the aggressive attitude of the top management and their understanding of accountancy. Bibliography: 1. Barnes, A. C. (1937). The Art in Painting, 3rd Ed. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NY. 2. Hugh H. and John F. F. (2009). The Visual Arts: A History, Revised Edition. 3. Don L. B. (1989). Visual Arts. 4. Narayan D. (2005). Dictionary of Accountancy. 5. Daniel W. K. (1986). A textbook of financial accounting. Read More