gerund or present participle
Explaining the reason for something or what happened to it.
The manager is accounting for the delay in her report.
By accounting for the delay, the manager helped calm the clients.
American English
How to pronounce accounting
verb · nounB1Very common word
uhKOWnihng
/əˈkʰaʊ.nɪŋ/
3 syllables · Stress the second syllable.
Form of account
As a noun, accounting is the field or work of keeping financial records; as a verb form, it is commonly followed by for.
Explaining the reason for something or what happened to it.
What to listen for
In American English, accounting is commonly pronounced both “əˈkʰaʊn.tɪŋ” and “əˈkʰaʊ.nɪŋ”; in the second pronunciation, the /t/ is left out in the middle. Both are correct.
Common pronunciation/əˈkʰaʊn.tɪŋ/
Common pronunciation without /t//əˈkʰaʊ.nɪŋ/
Meanings & examples
gerund or present participle
Making up a particular part or percentage of a total.
Online sales are accounting for 40% of our revenue this year.
Energy costs are accounting for a third of the budget.
noun
The work or subject of recording, checking, and reporting financial information for a person or organization.
She is studying accounting at a local college.
The accounting department checked the company's financial records.
Useful expressions
to explain why something happened or what happened to something
How do you account for the missing money?
to consider something before making a decision
Please take her experience into account.
because of something
The game was canceled on account of heavy snow.