AccountingQA Latest Questions

A_Team
A_Team
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  2. Akash Kumar AK
    This answer was edited.

    Generally, Assets are classified into two types. Non-Current Assets Current Assets   Non-Current Asset Noncurrent assets are also known as Fixed assets. These assets are an organization's long-term investments that are not easily converted to cash or are not expected to become cash within an acRead more

    Generally, Assets are classified into two types.

    1. Non-Current Assets
    2. Current Assets

     

    Non-Current Asset

    Noncurrent assets are also known as Fixed assets. These assets are an organization’s long-term investments that are not easily converted to cash or are not expected to become cash within an accounting year.

    In general terms, In accounting, fixed assets are assets that cannot be converted into cash immediately. They are primarily tangible assets used in production having a useful life of more than one accounting period. Unlike current assets or liquid assets, fixed assets are for the purpose of deriving long-term benefits.

    Unlike other assets, fixed assets are written off differently as they provide long-term income. They are also called “long-lived assets” or “Property Plant & Equipment”.

     

    Examples of Fixed Assets

    • Land
    • Land improvement (e.g. irrigation)
    • Building
    • Building (work in progress)
    • Machinery
    • Vehicles
    • Furniture
    • Computer hardware
    • Computer software
    • Office equipment
    • Leasehold improvements (e.g. air conditioning)
    • Intangible assets like trademarks, patents, goodwill, etc. (non-current assets)

     

    Valuation of Fixed asset

    fixed assets are recorded at their net book value, which is the difference between the “historical cost of the asset” and “accumulated depreciation”.

    “Net book value = Historical cost of the asset – Accumulated depreciation”

     

    Example:

    Hasley Co. purchases Furniture for their company at a price of 1,00,000. The Furniture has a constant depreciation of 10,000 per year. So, after 5 years, the net book value of the computer will be recorded as

    1,00,000 – (5 x 10,000) = 50,000.

    Therefore, the furniture value should be shown as 50,000 on the balance sheet.

     

    Presentation in the Balance Sheet

    Both current assets and non-current assets are shown on the asset side(Right side) of the balance sheet.

     

    Difference between Current Asset and Non-Current Asset

    Current assets are the resources held for a short period of time and are mainly used for trading purposes whereas Fixed assets are assets that last for a long time and are acquired for continuous use by an entity.

    The purpose to spend on fixed assets is to generate income over the long term and the purpose of the current assets is to spend on fixed assets to generate income over the long term.

    At the time of the sale of fixed assets, there is a capital gain or capital loss but at the time of the sale of current assets, there is an operating gain or operating loss.

    The main difference between the fixed asset and current asset is, although both are shown in the balance sheet fixed assets are depreciated every year and it is valued by (the cost of the asset – depreciation) and current asset is valued as per their current market value or cost value, whichever is lower.

     

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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. Mitika

    Non-current assets are long-term investments that are not easily converted into cash within an accounting year. They are required for the long term in the business. They have a useful life of more than an accounting year. Non-current assets can be fixed assets and intangible assets. Fixed assets areRead more

    Non-current assets are long-term investments that are not easily converted into cash within an accounting year. They are required for the long term in the business. They have a useful life of more than an accounting year.

    Non-current assets can be fixed assets and intangible assets. Fixed assets are tangible assets that can be seen and touched. Whereas, intangible assets are those assets that can not be seen and touched.

     

    You can correlate examples of  Non-Current Assets with tangible and intangible assets as mentioned below:

    Land and building – They are fixed assets that will give long-term benefits and will be classified as noncurrent assets.

    Plant and Machinery ­– They are tangible assets will give future benefits and are thus mentioned under noncurrent assets.

    Office Equipment – They are tangible assets that will give future economic benefits to the company, and comes under noncurrent assets.

    Vehicles – They are tangible assets that will give long-term benefits, and will be classified as noncurrent assets.

    Furniture – They are also tangible assets that will give future benefits and are classified as non-current assets.

    Trademarks – These are intangible assets that will not be easily converted into cash and will be classified as noncurrent assets.

    Goodwill – They are intangible assets that can’t be easily converted into cash, and are classified as non-current assets.

    Patents – They are intangible assets that will not be converted into cash within an accounting period, and are classified as non-current assets.

    Copyrights – They are intangible assets that will not be converted into cash within an accounting period, and are classified as non-current assets.

    Long-term Investments – They are long-term investments that will not be easily converted into cash within an accounting period and are classified as non-current assets.

     

     

    Non-current Assets = Total Liabilities – Current Assets

     

    Current Assets are the assets that will be converted into cash within an accounting year. They include cash, bank, debtors, etc.

     

    BALANCE SHEET

    		  
    LIABILITIES ASSETS
    Capital xxx Fixed Assets  
    Reserves and Surplus xxx Land and Building xxx
        Vehicle xxx
    Current Liabilities   Furniture xxx
    Accounts Payable xxx    
    Bank Overdraft xxx Intangible Assets  
    Outstanding Expenses xxx Goodwill xxx
      Trademarks xxx
         
      Long-term Investments xxx
           
      Current Assets  
      Cash xxx
      Debtors xxx
      Others xxx
      xxx   xxx

     

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning We know that an account in ledger format has two amount columns i.e. debit and credit amount columns. Now, most of the time, the total of debit and credit sides do not match.  The difference between their totals is called the balance of the account and it is posted on the shorter side. ThisRead more

    Meaning

    We know that an account in ledger format has two amount columns i.e. debit and credit amount columns. Now, most of the time, the total of debit and credit sides do not match.  The difference between their totals is called the balance of the account and it is posted on the shorter side. This result in equalling the total of both sides, hence this act is called ‘balancing an account.

    Types of balances

    Balancing an account is a very usual practice so that the balance of an account can be known. An account can have two types of balances:

    • Debit balance, where the debit side total is more than the credit side total.
    • Credit balance, where the credit side is more than the debit side total.

    The balance of an account is posted on the shorter side. It means:

    • The debit balance will be shown on the credit side as the credit side total is shorter. (posted as ‘By Balance c/d’)
    • The credit balance will be shown on the debit side as the debit side total is shorter (posted as ‘To Balance c/d’)

    Example

    The following is a cash account that is not balanced:

     

    We can see the debit side is ₹800 more than the credit side. It means there is a debit balance. It will be posted on the credit side as ‘By balance c/d’ to balance the account.

    Exceptions

    Balance of the income and the expense accounts (nominal accounts)are not computed. Instead, they are closed to trading account or profit and loss account to balance their amount totals. For example, the salaries account and sales accounts

    Only the balance of the following types of accounts are computed and carried forwarded to successive accounting years:

    • Assets
    • Liabilities
    • Capital

    The balance of these accounts is shown on the trial balance and balance sheet as well.

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Bonnie
BonnieCurious
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    No, capital account is not a real account. Capital account represents the amount of money invested by the owner/owners of the business along with the retained earnings net of drawings or dividends. Capital account has a natural credit balance because it is an internal liability of the business. CapiRead more

    No, capital account is not a real account.

    Capital account represents the amount of money invested by the owner/owners of the business along with the retained earnings net of drawings or dividends. Capital account has a natural credit balance because it is an internal liability of the business.

    Capital account is a personal account because, as discussed above, it represents the investment of the owner or owners. Personal account represents person or persons.

    Whereas a real account represents the material assets of a business. Example:-  Cash A/c, Fixed assets A/c etc. That’s why the capital account is not a real account.

    Being a personal account, the following golden rule of accounting applies to capital account:-

    “Debit the receiver and credit the giver”

    Here, as the owner gives an amount as an investment into the business (owner and the business are separate entities), the capital account has a credit balance.

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Karan
Karan
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  2. PriyanshiGupta Graduated, B.Com
    This answer was edited.

    Sales return shows the sale price of goods returned by customers. It is deducted from sales or gross sales in the income statement. It is a contra revenue account that represents returns from the customers and deductions to the original selling price, in case of any defective product received by theRead more

    Sales return shows the sale price of goods returned by customers. It is deducted from sales or gross sales in the income statement.

    It is a contra revenue account that represents returns from the customers and deductions to the original selling price, in case of any defective product received by the customer or any other manufacturing default.

    Sales allowances arise when any customer accepts the product at a lower price than the original price or, in other words, a reduction in the price charged by a seller, due to any problem related to the sold product like a quality issue, an incorrect price charged or shipment issue.

    Sales allowances are created before the final billing is paid by the buyer.

    Journal entry for sales return and allowances:

    Dr. Sales return and allowances Amt  
    Cr. Accounts receivable   Amt
    • Sales Return Account is debited because it is reverse of Sales Account which is credited at the time of sale.
    • Account Receivable Account is credited to reverse the debtors debited at the time of sale.
    • Hence Sales Return entry is just reverse of the entry recorded at the time of sale.

     

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. Pooja_Parikh Aspiring Chartered Accountant

    A contra account is a general ledger account that is used to reduce the value of the account related to it. Basically, a contra account is the opposite of its associated account. If the associated account has a debit balance, then the contra account would have a credit balance. They are used to mainRead more

    A contra account is a general ledger account that is used to reduce the value of the account related to it. Basically, a contra account is the opposite of its associated account. If the associated account has a debit balance, then the contra account would have a credit balance. They are used to maintain the historical value of the main account while all the deductions are recorded in the contra account, which when clubbed together show the net book value.

    For example

    if the cost of machinery was Rs. 50,000 and the company wants to preserve its original cost, then the accumulated depreciation of such machinery is recorded separately. Let’s say Rs 10,000 was the accumulated depreciation. Then such amount is recorded in the contra account named accumulated depreciation account. This makes the net value of the machinery Rs 40,000.

    Types

    There are various types of contra accounts such as contra asset, contra equity, contra revenue, and contra liability.

    • Contra asset: these accounts have credit balances and are used to reduce the balance of an asset. Eg, Accumulated depreciation.
    • Contra Liability: These accounts have debit balances and are used to reduce the balance of liabilities. Eg, discount on notes.
    • Contra equity: These accounts have a credit balance and are used to reduce the number of shares outstanding which in turn reduces equity. Eg treasury stock.
    • Contra revenue: These accounts have a debit balance. They reduce gross revenue which results in net revenue. Eg sales return.

    Accountants make use of contra accounts instead of reducing the value of the actual account to keep the financial statements clean.

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Karan
Karan
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  2. AbhishekBatabyal Helpful Pursuing CA, BCOM (HONS)

    Accumulated profit is the amount of profit left after the payment of dividends to the shareholders. It is also known as retained earnings. It is the profit that is not distributed as dividends to shareholders, hence called retained earnings. This accumulated profit is an important source of internalRead more

    Accumulated profit is the amount of profit left after the payment of dividends to the shareholders. It is also known as retained earnings. It is the profit that is not distributed as dividends to shareholders, hence called retained earnings. This accumulated profit is an important source of internal finance for a company. Accumulated profit or retained earnings can be ascertained using the following formula:

    Accumulated profit = Opening balance of accumulated profit + Net Profit/Loss (loss being in the negative figure) – Dividend paid

    Accumulated profit can be put to the following uses:

    • To reinvest into the business in form of capital assets or working capital.
    • To repay the debt of the company.
    • To pay dividends in future.
    • To set off the net loss made by the company.

    Accumulated profit and reserves are often considered the same. But in substance, they are not. The reserves are actually part of the accumulated profit, but the converse is not true. They are created by transferring amounts from the accumulated profit. While reserves are created for purpose of strengthening the financial foundation of a firm, the accumulated profit’s main purpose is to make reinvest in the business to increase its growth.

    The amount of accumulated profits depends upon the retention ratio and dividend payout ratio of a company.  The retention ratio is the opposite of the dividend payout ratio.

    The formula of dividend pay-out ratio = Dividend payable/Net Income

    And retention ratio = 1 – (Dividend payable/Net Income)

    If the retention ratio is more than the dividend payout ratio, the accumulated profit remains positive.

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. AbhishekBatabyal Helpful Pursuing CA, BCOM (HONS)
    This answer was edited.

    Realization is an important principle in accounting. It is the basis of revenue recognition and it gives to accrual accounting. When we used the word realization, it is usually regarding revenue recognition. Realization of revenue means when revenue to be earned from the sale of goods or rendering oRead more

    Realization is an important principle in accounting. It is the basis of revenue recognition and it gives to accrual accounting. When we used the word realization, it is usually regarding revenue recognition.

    Realization of revenue means when revenue to be earned from the sale of goods or rendering of services or any other activity or source becomes absolute and certain. An item is to be shown as revenue in the books of accounts only after it is realized.

    Realization in case of sale of goods

    Realization occurs in the following situations:

    i) When the goods are delivered to the customer for a certain price

    ii) All significant risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to the customer and the seller retains no effective control over the goods.

    Let’s take an example. Mr Peter received an order of 500 units of goods from Mr Parker on 1st April. The goods were delivered to Mr Parker on 15Th April and payment for goods was received on 30Th April.

    The realization of revenue from the sale of goods will be considered to have occurred on 15th April because the goods were delivered to the customer on that date. The entry of sale of goods will be entered on this day.

    Realization is not considered to have occurred on 1st April i.e the date of order because the seller had effective control on goods on that date.

    Realization in case of rendering of services

    The realization of revenue from the rendering of services occurs as per the performance of service.

    Now there arise two situations:

    • Multiple acts involved in the performance of service: Here, the revenue is realized proportionately on completion of each act.
    • A Single act involved in the performance of service: Here, revenue is realized only when the service is completely rendered or provided.

    Realization of income from other sources:

    • Interest Income: It is realized on a time proportion basis as per the amount outstanding and rates applicable.
    • Dividends: It is realized when the shareholder’s right to receive is established and when it is declared.

    Realization with regards to other sources of income is considered to have occurred only when there exist no significant uncertainty as to measurability or collectability.

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AbhishekBatabyal
AbhishekBatabyalHelpful
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  2. Radhika
    This answer was edited.

    Capital maintenance is a principle that states profit should not be recorded until its cost or capital has been maintained. In other words, profit should not be recognized unless net assets have been maintained. Capital maintenance states that profit recognized is the increase in the value of net asRead more

    Capital maintenance is a principle that states profit should not be recorded until its cost or capital has been maintained. In other words, profit should not be recognized unless net assets have been maintained.

    Capital maintenance states that profit recognized is the increase in the value of net assets. However, there are two exceptions to it:

    • Cash increased because of sale of stock to shareholders
    • Cash decreased because of dividend payout to its shareholders

    It is important because:

    • It protects the interest of shareholders
    • It protects the interest of creditors
    • Accurately analyzing the performance of the company

    Capital maintenance is of two types:

    • Financial Capital Maintenance

    It is measured by the value of assets at the beginning and end of the financial year.

    • Physical Capital Maintenance

    It is measured by the production capacity at the beginning and end of the financial year.

    Capital maintenance is concerned with keeping proper account balances of assets and not the physical assets.

    Inflation is the increase in the economic value of goods due to the lower purchasing power and not an actual increase in the value of assets. So, if the value of an asset is increased due to inflation it does not depict the right picture for the company.

    Hence, if the value of assets increases due to inflation, companies need to adjust the value of assets to assess if capital maintenance has occurred. 

     

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