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Previous Next Up Topic Everything Else / Other Languages - Άλλες γλώσσες / Rendering of accounts (2026 hits)
- By phanghor Flag: gr Date 2009-04-04 13:55
Could someone please explain what 'rendering of accounts' means? Does it mean 'handing out accounts to those who are to pay them'? Examples:

There shall be a clear and distinct separation of duties between the rendering of accounts and the receipt of cash, ie the same employee will not be responsible for both duties, except where dispensation has been given by the Director of Finance. 

The Head of each Department shall ensure the prompt rendering of accounts in connection with work done, goods supplied or services rendered and shall furnish the Director of Finance with such information as is required to establish income due to the council.
Parent - By Simon Flag: wales Date 2009-04-04 21:10
Good evening, Phanghor.

I've just had to re-type part of this as I discovered that I was typing in English with my keyboard set to Greek.  Hence I was writing fluent gobbledegook...  Nothing new there, I hear people say!

Anyhow, I suspect it depends on context.  I would normally expect it to refer to an internal process within an organization, or something that has an aspect of scrutiny, however.  I might "render" my Travel and Subsistence account to my employer's finance department, and yes, that would be to have it paid (hopefully).  Then again, I suppose a company might "render" accounts to a regulatory authority to which it is subject.  And there is no particular reason that I can think of why the word could not be used to refer to sending an account to an outside organization or person from whom payment is expected.  It just seems a little "over the top" in that context.

It's really a rather formal synonym for "to submit" (i.e. for payment or inspection).

Simon.
Έτσι είναι η ζωή!
Parent - By phanghor Flag: gr Date 2009-04-05 11:09
So “απόδοση λογαριασμών” is a good phrase for it. That’s how it is translated into Greek.

Τηανκ υοθ, Σιμον.
Parent - By Simon Flag: wales Date 2009-04-06 20:54
Υοθ'ρε ςελψομε, μυ φριενδ!

Σ.
Έτσι είναι η ζωή!
Parent - By Thanos Flag: gb Date 2009-04-07 09:35
Simon has said it all really, but to me it has slight implications of 'freezing'... I don't know how much my credit card bill is until the bank render the account and then I have the figure in black and white.

OED says the etymology is of Latin reddere - 'to give back', and the same root as 'surrender'.  That would probably cover most of the uses.  The most common other use would be an anachronism retained in common use by the King James Bible of 1611:
1611 BIBLE Mark xii. 17 Render to Cesar the things that are Cesars.
(where the implication is also one of paying a tax)

'rendering an account' can also mean (slightly archaically) to describe what happened - 'tell a story' or 'give an explanation' in a more formal sense.  For example Shakespeare says:
1599 SHAKES. Much Ado IV. i. 337, I will challenge him:..By this hand, Claudio shall render me a deere account.
(deere=dear)
1662 STILLINGFL. Orig. Sacræ III. ii. §14 To see how well he acquits himself in rendring an account of the Origine of the Universe.
1838-9 F. A. KEMBLE Resid. Georgia (1863) 42 At the head of each gang [of negroes] is a driver,..who renders an account of each individual slave and his work every evening to the overseer.
Parent By Simon Flag: wales Date 2009-04-08 21:14
Interesting - I hadn't thought of the double meaning...

Simon.
Έτσι είναι η ζωή!
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