{"id":3429,"date":"2022-07-03T17:45:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-03T17:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3429"},"modified":"2022-07-03T17:45:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T17:45:11","slug":"account-for-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/account-for-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Account For \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can you \"<em>account for<\/em>\" everything you brought with you to the office today? Can you account for the money you took from the petty cash yesterday at work? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>To \"<em>account for<\/em>\" something means that you are aware of it and can confirm that you verify it exists. It's a common saying used in bookkeeping and accounting, and you probably hear it all the time in finance talk.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The saying can mean that you must provide an explanation or verification for something or someone, or you must bear the accountability for something. It can refer to money, assets, people, or anything important that someone is keeping track of in their life.<\/p>\n<p>To \"account for\" something can also mean that you are the responsible party to a task and must \"account for\" the success or failure of the project. It can also mean that you \"account for\" handing responsibility or leadership to someone else.<\/p>\n<p>To \"account for\" something can also mean to provide someone else with satisfactory record-keeping for finances or tasks, mostly relating to money.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase can have a lighthearted or assertive context. For instance, you could account for the chocolate chips you dropped on the floor or account for millions of dollars spent in a marketing budget.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\"We can account for Mr. Daniels's time at the bar that evening. He has an alibi, and there is no chance he is responsible for the crime.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I can account for all the client payments going back at least five years. There's no chance the IRS will find anything wrong with the books.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I can account for all the kids we brought with us. Get them onto the bus, and let's head back to the school.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"Can you account for all the payments moving through the account? There is a rumor that someone has been stealing from the petty cash, and I want to know who it is.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"Can you account for all the tools we brought to the job site? If anything is missing, I'm taking the replacement cost out of your paycheck.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"After completing your request, we can confidently say we can account for everything on your list, and we have it all in stock.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"We can account for everything we took with us. There is no chance we left anything behind at the campsite.\"<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3430\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Account-For.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"114\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3431\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Account-For2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"130\" height=\"164\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The origin of the expression \u201caccount for\u201d comes from somewhere in the 1700s. An \u201caccount\u201d is a set of books relating to a person or company\u2019s finances. Language experts are unsure of the exact origin of the expression \u201caccount for\u201d and when it first appeared in English. However, many experts believe it comes from technical wiring around the Industrial Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Companies we\u2019re growing, and the unfolding economic expansion led to the introduction of many business terms relating to finances and accounting. Other business-speak, such as \u201cwith regard to\u201d and others, also emerged around the same time.<\/p>\n<p>To \u201caccount for\u201d something means to make an entry in the book of accounts, and it retains the meaning of counting something in modern use.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Phrasal Verbs, Their Meaning, uses and Examples | Account to, Account for | Start From Scratch\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BzW1AHGOURc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Account For<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Take note of.<\/li>\n<li>Measure up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Account For<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Unknown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Account for.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Account For Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>There are several ways you can use this expression, but all refer to taking into account people, items, or tasks. Using the phrase in reference to inaccurate record keeping is incorrect.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Account For<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the phrase \u201caccount for\u201d when referencing an accounting of people, tasks, or items. The term suits professional and social use, but it\u2019s more common in professional communications in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>You could use it to describe how you \u201caccount for\u201d the petty cash and everything balances. Or you could use it to say you account for all the kids at the waterpark when it's time to go home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Can you \"account for\" everything you brought with you to the office today? Can you account for the money you took from the petty cash yesterday at work? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning To \"account for\" something means that you are aware of it and can confirm that you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5114,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3429\/revisions\/5114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}