Economic accounting plays probably a central role in most farmers’
planning and decision making. The rationale of accounting is to get a
complete overview of the consequences of all activities carried out by the
farm over a fixed period of time, and to evaluate these consequences in
economic terms (cf. Demski, 1994). One part of accounting is concerned
with external reporting. This part concentrates on the bottom line result of
the overall performance. Another part is concerned with internal reporting,
and this is primarily motivated by the great complexity of the production
process.