AccountingQA Latest Questions

A_Team
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  2. Ishika Pandey Curious ca aspirant
    This answer was edited.

    Definition Bad debts are a debt owed to an enterprise that is considered to be irrecoverable or we can say that it is owed to the business that is written off because it is irrecoverable. Sometimes debtors are unable to pay the amount due either partially or fully. the amount that is not receivableRead more

    Definition

    Bad debts are a debt owed to an enterprise that is considered to be irrecoverable or we can say that it is owed to the business that is written off because it is irrecoverable.

    Sometimes debtors are unable to pay the amount due either partially or fully. the amount that is not receivable is a loss and is called bad debt.

    Bad debts are neither assets nor liabilities they are expenses that are debited to the profit and loss account and reduced from debtors in the balance sheet.

    For example loans from banks are declared as bad debt, sales made on credit and amounts not received from customers, etc.

     

    Related terms

    So there are a few related terms whose meanings you should know

    • Further bad debts :
      • It means the amount of sundry debtors in the trial balance is before the deduction of bad debts. in this situation, entry for further bad debts is also passed into the books of account.
      • That is bad debts are debited and the debtor’s account is credited. And the accounting treatment for them is the same as bad debts which I have shown you above.

     

    • Bad debts recovered :
      • It may happen that the amount written off as bad debts are recovered fully or partially.
      • In that case, the amount is not credited to the debtor’s (personal) account but is credited to the bad debts recovered account because the amount recovered had been earlier written off as a loss.
      • Thus amount recovered is a ‘gain’  and is credited to the profit and loss account.

     

    Accounting methods

    There are two methods for accounting for bad debts which are mentioned below:-

    • First, is the direct written-off method which states that bad debts will be directly treated as expenses and expensed to the income statement, which is called the profit and loss account.

     

    • Second, is the allowance method which means we create provisions for doubtful debts accounts and the debtor’s account remains as it is since the debtor’s account and provision for doubtful debts account are two separate accounts.

     

      • Debts that are doubtful of recovery are provided estimating the debts that may not be recovered .amount debited to the profit and loss account reduces the current year’s profit and the amount of provision is carried forward to the next year.
      • Next year, when debts actually become bad debts and are written off, the amount of bad debts is transferred ( debited ) to the provision for doubtful debts account.
      • The amount of bad debts is not debited to the profit and loss account since it was already debited in earlier years.
      • Provision for doubtful debts is shown in the debit side of the profit and loss account as well as shown as a deduction from sundry debtors in the assets side of the balance sheet. 

     

    Accounting treatment

    Now let me try to explain to you the accounting treatment for bad debts which is as follows :

    • Balance sheet

     

      • In the balance sheet either it can be shown on the asset side under the head, current assets by reducing from that specific assets.
      • For example, if credit sales are made to a customer who says it’s not recoverable or is partially recoverable then the amount is bad debt. It’s a loss for the business and credited to the personal account of debtors or we can say reduced from debtor those are current assets of the balance sheet.

     

    • Profit and loss account

     

      • Bad debts are treated as expenses and debited to the profit and loss account.
      • For example, as I have explained above, before transferring to the balance sheet, bad debt will be debited to the profit and loss account as an expense.

    Now let me show you the extract of the profit and loss account and balance sheet showing bad debts and bad debts recovered which are as follows:-

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. Saurav
    This answer was edited.

    Debit balance means excess of credit side over debit side. For Example- At the beginning of the year the debit balance of trade receivables is 3,000 and there is a decrease(credit) of trade receivables of 1,000 during the year and an increase(debit) of trade receivables of 4,000 then at the end therRead more

    Debit balance means excess of credit side over debit side.

    For Example- At the beginning of the year the debit balance of trade receivables is 3,000 and there is a decrease(credit) of trade receivables of 1,000 during the year and an increase(debit) of trade receivables of 4,000 then at the end there will be a debit balance of 6,000 of trade receivables at the end

    A Debit balance basically signifies all expenses and losses and all positive balances of assets. The debit balance increases when any asset increases and decreases when any asset decreases.

    Assets

    All the assets that appear in the balance sheet always have a debit balance. The debit balance under it will increase as it debits. Some of these assets can be illustrated below -:

    •  Cash and Bank Balance: Cash and Bank Balance means the amount that is held by a person in physical form or in a current/savings account.
    • Property, Plant, and Equipment-  Property Plant, and Equipment means assets that are used for the production of goods and services.
    • Account Receivables– Account Receivables means the amount that is due from debtors to whom goods were sold at credit for a specified time period.
    • Inventory – Inventory means goods that are used in the normal course of business.
    • Investments– Investments are the amount invested in other companies from which they were expecting returns in future periods.

     

    Expenses and Losses

    All expenses that appear on the debit side of the P&L account have a debit balance in their accounts.

    For eg-: A rent of 10,000 is given to the landlord under which the work has been done by the entity.

    For eg-: A depreciation of 10% is there on an asset of 12,000 will result in a debit balance under depreciation in the P&L Account.

    Some of the following expenses can be illustrated below

    • Rent- Rent means a property that an entity takes on lease for business purpose and pay a certain amount to the landlord for such lease.
    • Depreciation– Depreciation means a fall in the value of an asset due to its usage every year
    • Loss on Sale of an asset- Loss on the Sale of an Asset means the sale amount of the asset is less than its WDV
    • Printing and stationery– Printing and Stationery means the paperwork or anything related to stationery used for business purposes
    • Audit fees– Audit fees are the amount which is given to an auditor for auditing the financials of an entity
    • Salaries and Wages– Salaries and Wages are the amount given to employees for the work they have done for the entity
    • Insurance– Insurance means a premium given by an entity for insurance done by them
    • Advertising– Advertising means any promotion that a company does of its product to increase its revenue

    So after seeing all the above points we can conclude that the debit balance includes all the expenses that are in the P&L account and all the assets that are there in the Balance sheet. So its balance increases when there is an increase in its account.

     

    CREDIT BALANCE

    Credit balance means excess of credit side over debit side.

    For example, At the beginning of the year, the credit balance of trade payable is 3,000 and there is a debit of trade payable of 1,000 during the year and an increase(credit) of trade payable of 4,000 then at end there will be a credit balance of 6,000 for trade payable at the end

    .A Credit balance signifies all income and gains and all liabilities and capital that is there in business.

    Liabilities

    • Account Payables
    • Bank Overdraft
    • Bonds
    • Income Tax Payables
    • Notes Payable
    • Deferred Tax Liability

     

    Income and Gains

    • Interest Received
    • Dividend Received
    • Rent Received
    • Gains on Sale of Capital Gains

     

     

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Sandy
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Fictitious AssetsFinancial Statements
  2. Nistha Pursuing B.COM H (B&F) and CMA
    This answer was edited.

    Fictitious assets can be defined as those fake assets which save revenue for the company. These do not exist physically but also do not qualify as intangible assets. These are merely the expenses or losses that are not fully written off in the accounting period in which they are incurred. These expeRead more

    Fictitious assets can be defined as those fake assets which save revenue for the company. These do not exist physically but also do not qualify as intangible assets. These are merely the expenses or losses that are not fully written off in the accounting period in which they are incurred. These expenses are amortized over a period of time.

    These assets do not have any realizable value except for the cash outflow. These are created to delay the recognition of the expense and defer it to future periods.

    Fictitious assets actually qualify as an expense but are treated as assets only for the fact that they are expected to give returns over a course of more than one year. Examples are Advertisement expenses, preliminary expense, etc.

    Treatment

    Fictitious assets are shown on the assets side of the balance sheet under the head miscellaneous expenditure. A part of these expenses are shown in the profit and loss statement and the remaining amount is carried forward to the following years.

    For example, a company Timber Ltd. incurs expenses relating to advertisement of its products worth 8,000,000 and this advertisement campaign can earn revenue for the company for around 10 years. Hence, such expense of 8,000,000 would be amortized over a period of 10 years.

    For the first year, an amount of 800,000 (8,000,000/10) would appear in the profit and loss statement as expense and the rest 7,200,000 would appear as advertisement expense under the Miscellaneous expenditure on the assets side of the balance sheet.

    For the second year, an amount of 800,000 (8,000,000/10) would appear in the profit and loss statement as expense and the rest 6,400,000 would appear as advertisement expense under the Miscellaneous expenditure on the assets side of the balance sheet. And so on.

    We can say that fictitious assets are deferred revenue expenditures as well as intangible assets. But goodwill, etc are not fictitious assets. Hence, all fictitious assets are intangible assets but all intangible assets are not fictitious assets.

    Common fictitious assets that could generally be seen are:

    • Advertisement expenses
    • Preliminary expenses
    • Discount allowed on the issue of shares
    • Loss incurred on issue of debentures
    • Underwriting Commission
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Aadil
AadilCurious
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book value replacement value depreciable value market value

Depreciation
  2. Vijay Curious M.Com
    This answer was edited.

    The total depreciation of an asset cannot exceed its 3. depreciable value.  Depreciable value means the original cost of the asset minus its residual/salvage value. The asset's original cost is inclusive of the purchase price and other expenses incurred to make the asset operational. To put it simplRead more

    The total depreciation of an asset cannot exceed its 3. depreciable value. 

    Depreciable value means the original cost of the asset minus its residual/salvage value. The asset’s original cost is inclusive of the purchase price and other expenses incurred to make the asset operational. To put it simply,

    The accumulated depreciation on an asset can never exceed its depreciable value because depreciation is a gradual fall in the value of an asset over its useful life. Only a certain percentage of the asset’s book value/original cost is shown as depreciation every year. So, it is impossible/illogical for the accumulated depreciation of an asset to exceed its depreciable value.

    Let me show you an example to make it more understandable,

    Amazon installs machines to automate the job of packing orders. The original cost of the machine is $1,000,000. Now let’s assume,

    The estimated useful life of the machine – 10 years.

    Residual value at the end of 10 years – $50,000.

    Method of depreciation – Straight-line method.

    The depreciable value of the machine will be $950,000 (1,000,000 – 50,000). The depreciation for each year under SLM will be calculated as follows:

    Depreciation = (Original cost of the asset – Residual/Salvage Value) / (Useful life of the asset)

    Applying this formula, $95,000 (1,000,000 – 50,000/10) will be charged as depreciation every year. The accumulated depreciation at the end of 10 years will be $950,000 (95,000*10). As you can see, the accumulated depreciation ($950,000) of the machine does not exceed its depreciable value ($950,000).

    Thus, the total depreciation of an asset cannot be more than its depreciable value.

     

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. Naina@123 (B.COM and CMA-Final)
    This answer was edited.

    Let me explain to you in short what is unrecorded assets in the partnership. Basically, these are the assets that are not recorded in the books of accounts but are still present in the business in physical form. These assets are directly credited to the realization account at the time of dissolutionRead more

    Let me explain to you in short what is unrecorded assets in the partnership. Basically, these are the assets that are not recorded in the books of accounts but are still present in the business in physical form. These assets are directly credited to the realization account at the time of dissolution of the partnership firm

    Unrecorded assets are treated in two ways:

    1. Either they can be sold for cash.
    2. Taken over by any of the partners.

    The journal entry for the unrecorded assets sold in cash is as follows:

    Bank A/c                                                                           ……..Dr xxx
                To Realization A/c xxx
    (Being unrecorded assets sold for cash)

    To make the entries more simple for you let me give you a small example

    A partnership firm has decided to dissolve its business. The firm had old furniture which was completely written off. They decide to sell the furniture for Rs 3,000. Here we can see that the firm has decided to realize its furniture by selling them in cash. Therefore the journal entry would be

    Bank A/c                                                                    ……..Dr 3,000
                To Realisation A/c 3,000
    (Being old furniture sold for cash)

    And the journal entry for unrecorded assets taken over by the partner is as follows:

    Partner’s capital A/c                                                      ……..Dr xxx
                To Realization A/c xxx
    (Being unrecorded taken over by the partner)

    For example:

    A partnership firm has decided to dissolve its business. The firm had old furniture which was completely written off. One of the pieces of furniture was taken over by one of the partners for Rs 3,000. Here we can see that the firm has decided to realize its furniture by taking over the partner. Therefore the journal entry would be

    Bank A/c                                                                    ……..Dr 3,000
                To Partnership A/c 3,000
    (Being old furniture taken by partner)

    As realization is a nominal account it debits all expenses and losses while credit all incomes and gains. Therefore when a business treats unrecorded assets either by selling them or is taken over by the partner’s, it brings a certain amount of cash into the business hence Bank A/c and Partner’s capital account is debited in the journal entry and appear on the credit side of the realization account.

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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    The partnership act 1932 does not mention the types of partners specifically. It does have mentions of ‘partner who is minor’ in section 30 and ‘partner by holding out in section 28. But we do come across many types of partners in partnership firms. Following is the list of the types of partners weRead more

    The partnership act 1932 does not mention the types of partners specifically. It does have mentions of ‘partner who is minor’ in section 30 and ‘partner by holding out in section 28.

    But we do come across many types of partners in partnership firms. Following is the list of the types of partners we generally see:-

    1. Active partner: – It is the partner who provides the capital and is also actively involved in the management and daily activities of the firm. Such a type of partner is of utmost importance to the firm. Apart from a share in profit and loss, he is also eligible to draw remuneration from the firm.

     

    1. Sleeping/ Dormant partner: – This type of partner does not participate in the daily workings of the firm nor actively participates in the management of the firm. Such a type of partner has a large sum of capital invested in the firm and shares the profits as well as losses of the firm.

     

    1. Partner by holding out:- If any partner, who by his words or by his conduct, represents himself as a partner of a firm, then he is called a partner by holding out. Such a partner is actually not a partner of the firm and doesn’t receive any share of profit as he has contributed no capital.

    As per section 28, such a partner is liable to any person who has given credit to the firm on             the belief that he is a partner of the firm.

     

    1. Minor partner: – If any person who is less than 18 years of age is admitted into the firm, such partner is known as a minor partner. Such a partner is entitled to the profits of the firm based on his capital but is immune from losses suffered by the firm.

     

    1. Secret partner: – It is a partner of a firm whose membership is kept hidden from the outsiders such as creditors and other third parties. But he is equally liable as other partners for the outside liabilities.

     

    1. Outgoing partner: – A partner who voluntarily leaves the partnership without dissolving the firm is called an outgoing partner or retiring partner. Such a partner is liable to all liabilities incurred before his retirement. But he can be held liable to outside liabilities if he fails to give public notice of his retirement.

     

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