AccountingQA Latest Questions

Radha
Radha
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Internal Users
  2. Vijay Curious M.Com
    This answer was edited.

    One of the main purposes of accounting is to provide financial data to its users so that decisions are taken at an appropriate time. These users of accounting information are broadly classified into (a) internal users and (b) external users. Since the question concentrates on internal users I’ll beRead more

    One of the main purposes of accounting is to provide financial data to its users so that decisions are taken at an appropriate time. These users of accounting information are broadly classified into (a) internal users and (b) external users. Since the question concentrates on internal users I’ll be explaining internal users of accounting information in detail.

    Internal users are people within an organization/business who need accounting information to make day-to-day decisions.

    The various internal users of accounting information include:

    • Owners/Promoters/Directors:

    Owners are the people who contribute capital to the business and therefore they are interested to know the profit earned or loss incurred by the business as well as the safety of their capital. In the case of a Sole Proprietorship, the proprietor is the owner of the business. In the case of a Partnership, the partners are considered as the owners of the firm.

    The use for them: To know how the business is doing financially, owners need to know the profit and loss reflected in the financial statements.

    • Management:

    Management is responsible for setting objectives, formulating plans, taking informed decisions, and ensuring that pre-planned objectives are met within the stipulated time period.

    The use for them: To achieve objectives, management needs accounting information to make decisions related to determining the selling price, budgeting, cost control and reduction, investing in new projects, trend analysis, forecasting, etc.

    • Employees/Workers:

    Employees and workers are the ones who implement the plans set by the management. Their well-being is dependent on the profitability of the business.

    The use for them: They are interested to check the financial statements so that they can get a better knowledge of the business. Some organizations also give their employees a share in their profits in the form of a bonus at the year-end. This also creates an interest in the employees to check the financial statements.

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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. Manvi Pursuing ACCA
    This answer was edited.

    International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a not-for-profit, public interest organization. The main objective of the IFRS Foundation is to raise the standard of financial reporting and bring about global harmonization of accounting standards. IFRS was established to develop high-quality,Read more

    International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a not-for-profit, public interest organization. The main objective of the IFRS Foundation is to raise the standard of financial reporting and bring about global harmonization of accounting standards.

    IFRS was established to develop high-quality, understandable, enforceable, and generally accepted accounting standards. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) develops IFRS. There are currently 16 IFRSs in issue.

    Benefits of IFRS Standards:

    1. It brings transparency by international comparability and quality of financial information.
    2. It strengthens accountability by reducing the information gap between providers and users of the capital.
    3. It contributes to economic efficiency by improving capital allocation and, helps investors in identifying opportunities and risks across the world.

     

    Following are the uses of IFRS:

    1. As national requirements.
    2. As the basis for all or some national requirements.
    3. As an international benchmark for those countries which develop their own requirements.
    4. By regulatory authorities for domestic and foreign companies.
    5. By companies themselves.

     

    Challenges faced by companies if IFRS is not implemented:

    1. The financial statements will differ for the companies who have offices worldwide and use only national accounting standards.
    2. Increased complexity while preparing financial statements.
    3. Difficulty in comparing and verifying financial statements.
    4. Accounting of transactions will differ from country to country if IFRS is not implemented.
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Manvi
Manvi
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  2. Karan B.com and Pursuing ACCA
    This answer was edited.

    Discount received is the reduction in the price of the goods and services which is received by the buyer from the seller. It is an income for the buyer and is credited to the discount received account and credited to the seller/supplier’s account. Journal entry for discount received as per modern ruRead more

    Discount received is the reduction in the price of the goods and services which is received by the buyer from the seller. It is an income for the buyer and is credited to the discount received account and credited to the seller/supplier’s account.

    Journal entry for discount received as per modern rules:

    Creditor’s A/c Debit Decrease in liability
            To Cash A/c Credit Decrease in asset
            To Discount Received A/c Credit Increase in income
    (Being goods purchased and discount received)

    Discount allowed is the reduction in the price of the goods which is granted by the seller to the buyer on prompt payment of their account. It is an expense for the seller and is debited to the discount allowed account and credited to the buyer’s account.

    Journal entry for discount allowed as per modern rules:

    Cash A/c Debit Increase in asset
    Discount Allowed A/c Debit Increase in expense
        To Debtor’s A/c Credit Decrease in asset
    (Being goods sold and discount allowed)

    For example, A Ltd. offers a 10% discount to the customers who settle their debts within two weeks. Mr.B a customer purchased goods worth Rs.20,000.

    According to modern rules, A Ltd will record this sale as:

    Particulars Amt Amt
    Cash A/c                                    Dr. 8,000
    Discount Allowed A/c             Dr. 2,000
                To Mr.B’s A/c 10,000

     

    Mr.B will record this purchase as:

    Particulars Amt Amt
    A Ltd A/c                                    Dr. 10,000
       To Cash A/c 8,000
       To Discount Received A/c 2,000

    For a business, the discount received is an income, and the discount allowed is an expense. In the above example, A Ltd has granted a discount and B is the receiver of the discount. Hence, for A Ltd discount allowed is an expense and for B discount received is an income.

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Jayesh Gupta
Jayesh GuptaCurious
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  2. Spriha Sparsh
    This answer was edited.

    Liabilities are obligations which a business owes to external or internal parties.As per the accounting equation liabilities are equal to the difference between assets and capital. Total Outside Liabilities  in relation to the Borrower can be all secured and unsecured loans, including current liabilRead more

    Liabilities are obligations which a business owes to external or internal parties.As per the accounting equation liabilities are equal to the difference between assets and capital.

    Total Outside Liabilities  in relation to the Borrower can be all secured and unsecured loans, including current liabilities of the Borrower.

    External Liability or outside liability is an obligation which a business has to pay back to external parties i.e. lenders, vendors, government, etc. Payable to Sundry creditors for the supply of any goods for the business or payable to any contractors for receiving any services or payable to the Govt. or other departments for any statutory payments like taxes or other levies. All these liabilities are known as an external liability to the business and are shown on the liability side of the Balance sheet after charging into the profit & loss account of that period.

    Where, Internal Liability – All obligations which a business has to pay back to internal parties such as promoters, employees, etc. are termed as internal liabilities. Example – Capital, Salaries, Accumulated profits, etc.

    Example – Borrowings, Creditors, Taxes, etc.

    Where, 1) Person A takes a loan from person B (person not associated with the company), person B is an external liability to person A.
    2) Person A has a tax liability of Rs.1000, here the government is an external liability to whom A has to pay the liability amount.

    3) Person A got goods on credit from person C for 60 days, C is an external liability to A, which A has to pay within the time period.

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Karan
Karan
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  2. Pooja_Parikh Aspiring Chartered Accountant
    This answer was edited.

    Retained earnings are kept with the company for growth instead of distributing dividends to the shareholders. Therefore the cost of retained earnings refers to its opportunity cost which is the cost of foregoing dividends by the shareholders. Therefore the cost of retained earnings is similar to theRead more

    Retained earnings are kept with the company for growth instead of distributing dividends to the shareholders. Therefore the cost of retained earnings refers to its opportunity cost which is the cost of foregoing dividends by the shareholders.

    Therefore the cost of retained earnings is similar to the cost of equity without tax and flotation cost. Hence, it can be calculated as

    Kr = Ke (1 – t) (1 – f),

    Kr = Cost of retained earnings
    Ke = Cost of equity
    t = tax rate
    f = flotation cost

    Here, flotation cost means the cost of issuing shares.

    EXAMPLE

    If cost of equity of a company was 10%, tax rate was 30% and flotation cost was 5%, then
    cost of retained earnings = 10% x (1 – 0.30)(1 – 0.05) = 6.65%.

    From the above example and formula, it is clear that the cost of retained earnings would always be less than or equal to the cost of equity since retained earnings do not involve flotation costs or tax.

    A company usually acquires funds from various sources of finance rather than a single source. Therefore the cost of capital of the company will be the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of each individual source of finance. The cost of retained earnings is thus an important factor in calculating the overall cost of capital.

    Another important factor of WACC is the cost of equity. The cost of equity is sometimes interchanged with the cost of retained earnings. However, they are not the same.

     

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. Manvi Pursuing ACCA
    This answer was edited.

    The sole proprietorship is a business that is unincorporated and owned by a single person. The owner of the business invests capital in the business in the form of cash, any asset or stock, or in any other form. In, sole proprietorship owner and business are inseparable. Interest on capital is the aRead more

    The sole proprietorship is a business that is unincorporated and owned by a single person. The owner of the business invests capital in the business in the form of cash, any asset or stock, or in any other form. In, sole proprietorship owner and business are inseparable.

    Interest on capital is the amount paid by the entity/business to the owners. It is an expense to the business and income for the proprietor, and interest is adjusted in the owner’s capital account. It is calculated on an agreed percentage and for a certain period. It is paid before calculating net profit.

    If there is a loss, no interest will be paid on capital.

    Journal Entry for Interest on Capital in Sole Proprietorship:

    1. Interest on capital entry
    Interest on Capital A/c Debit Debit the increase in expense.
        To Owner’s Capital A/c Credit Credit the increase in income.

     

    2. Closing interest on capital account

    Profit and Loss A/c Debit Debit the increase in expense.
        To Interest on Capital A/c Credit Credit the increase in income.

    In sole proprietor’s Profit and Loss A/c interest will be recorded as an expense on the debit side and will be added to the owner’s capital in the Balance Sheet is considered as an adjustment to the capital account.

    For example, A invested Rs 1,00,000 in a business. He wants to adjust 5% interest on his capital, then the entry will be:

    1. Interest on capital entry
    Interest on Capital A/c 5,000
        To Owner’s Capital A/c 5,000

     

    2. Closing interest on capital account

    Profit and Loss A/c 5,000
        To Interest on Capital A/c 5,000

    In the case of a partnership, the treatment is the same as done in a sole proprietorship. The interest rate is agreed upon by the partners and is mentioned in the partnership deed. No interest is provided on the capitals of the partners if not mentioned in the deed.

    If in a particular period, the partnership firm incurs a loss, then no interest will be provided to the partners.

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AbhishekBatabyal
AbhishekBatabyalHelpful
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    The term ‘bad debt’ and ‘write off’ are often used together in a sentence but they have different meanings. First, we will discuss them in brief to understand the differences between them. Bad debts We know, debtors for a business are their assets because the business has the right to receive moneyRead more

    The term ‘bad debt’ and ‘write off’ are often used together in a sentence but they have different meanings. First, we will discuss them in brief to understand the differences between them.

    Bad debts

    We know, debtors for a business are their assets because the business has the right to receive money from the debtors due to the goods supplied to them.

    But if due to circumstances, there appears no probability that the amount due to one or more debtors will be realised to the business, then such debts are categorised as bad debts.

    In short, bad debts refer to the amount of money that will not be received from some debtors of the business due to some circumstances like insolvency of debtor etc.

    Bad debt is deducted from debtors account by the following journal entry:

    Bad debts A/c Dr. Amt
    To Debtors A/c Cr. Amt
    (Being bad debts written off from debtors)

    As bad debts are losses to a business, it is ultimately written off from the profit and loss account.

    Profit and loss A/c Dr. Amt
    To Bad debts A/c Cr. Amt
    (Being bad debts written off to profit and loss account)

    Write off

    In layman terms, write off means to deduct something out from something. In accounting, write off means to deduct or reduce value of assets by crediting it to a liability account which is usually a reserve account or the profit and loss account.

    It also refers to the elimination of an item from the books of accounts particularly losses and expenses.

    Generally, writing off is associated with the following:

    1. Bad debts.
    2. Damaged Inventories.
    3. Loss on issue or redemption of debentures.
    4. Preliminary expenses.
    5. Bad loans and advances.

    Write off can be done in one of the following methods:

    1. Direct write-off: The write off is directly done by crediting asset account or loss account and debiting the reserve or P/L account.
    2. Indirect write-off: Here, an intermediate account is involved between the asset account and liabilities account. A common example is writing off of bad debts where the bad debts account is the intermediate account.

    Hence, the following differences can be observed between bad debts and write off or writing off:

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