Accounting Cycle. Financial statements are a product of the accounting cycle. Think about two different companies: a manufacturing company, and a retail company. Why would different companies have different accounting cycles? Would you expect the steps of the accounting cycle to be the same for each company? Why, or why not?

Bank Reconciliation. What is the purpose of a bank reconciliation? What are the reasons for differences between the cash reported in the accounting records, and the cash balance in the bank statements?