As a former bookkeeper, I should mention that this is technically bookkeeping, not accounting, which vaguely corresponds to the difference between computation and programming.
That said, this is very dangerous knowledge; once bookkeeping makes sense like this you will constantly have to resist the urge to yell at people who claim "expenditure X really shouldn't count because it has benefit Y", which is a disturbingly common belief among otherwise smart people.
That said, this is very dangerous knowledge; once bookkeeping makes sense like this you will constantly have to resist the urge to yell at people who claim "expenditure X really shouldn't count because it has benefit Y", which is a disturbingly common belief among otherwise smart people.