AccountingQA Latest Questions

Aditi
Aditi
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  2. Mehak
    This answer was edited.

    Assets can be classified as Financial or Non-financial assets. One might wonder why this is necessary.  Let us dive into this concept, beginning with understanding what financial and non-financial assets are and why they are classified as such. What are Assets? Assets are things that have a monetaryRead more

    Assets can be classified as Financial or Non-financial assets. One might wonder why this is necessary.  Let us dive into this concept, beginning with understanding what financial and non-financial assets are and why they are classified as such.

    What are Assets?

    Assets are things that have a monetary value and are beneficial for a business. Assets are commonly classified as tangible, intangible, current, fixed, financial, non-financial, etc.

    Plant and machinery, land, buildings, cash, bank balance, patents, etc are some of the examples of assets that a business has.

    What are Financial Assets?

    Financial assets are the things of value that are held by a person for their underlying value. They are intangible and do not have a physical form. For example – Stocks, bonds, debentures, options, futures, etc.

    The value of these assets may change over time depending upon the market conditions, changes in government policies, fluctuations in interest rates, etc.

    In comparison to non-financial or physical assets, financial assets are more liquid as they can be traded and can be converted into cash.

    What are Non-financial assets?

    Non-financial assets are tangible or intangible assets that have a value but cannot be easily converted into cash. They are not as liquid and generally not traded.

    Examples of such assets are buildings, plant and machinery, patents, trademarks, etc.

    Why do we separate Financial and Non-Financial Assets?

    The following are several important reasons why it is important to segregate the same:

    1. It helps in the proper classification of assets on the Financial Statements.
    2. It helps in liquidity management.
    3. It helps in Risk assessment.
    4. Tax management can be done accurately.

    Difference between Financial and Non – Financial Asset

     

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Jayesh Gupta
Jayesh GuptaCurious
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  2. Vijay Curious M.Com
    This answer was edited.

    Yes, I agree with your statement that accounting information should be comparable. Comparability is one of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. It means that users should be able to compare a company's financial statements across time and across other companies. Comparability oRead more

    Yes, I agree with your statement that accounting information should be comparable.

    Comparability is one of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. It means that users should be able to compare a company’s financial statements across time and across other companies.

    Comparability of financial statements is crucial due to the following reasons:

    1. Intra-Firm Comparison:

    Comparison of financial statements of two or more periods of the same firm is known as an intra-firm comparison.

    Comparability of accounting information enables the users to analyze the financial statements of a business over a period of time. It helps them to monitor whether the firm’s financial performance has improved over time.

    The intra-firm analysis is also known as Time Series Analysis or Trend Analysis.

    To understand intra-firm analysis, I have provided an extract of the balance sheet of ABC Ltd. for two accounting periods.

    2. Inter-Firm Comparison:

    Comparison of financial statements of two or more firms is known as an inter-firm comparison.

    Inter-firm comparison helps in analyzing the financial performance of two or more competing firms in an industry. It enables the firm to know its position in the market in comparison to its competitors.

    Inter-firm comparison is also known as Cross-sectional Analysis.

    I’ve provided the balance sheets of Co. A and Co.B to make an inter-firm comparison.

    Here is a piece of bonus information for you,

    Sector Analysis – it refers to the assessment of economical and financial conditions of a given sector of a company/industry/economy. It involves the analysis of the size, demographic, pricing, competitive, and other economic dimensions of a sector of the company/industry/economy.

    One more important thing to note here is that comparability can only be achieved when the firms are consistent in the accounting principles and standards they adopt. The accounting policies and standards must be consistent across different periods of the same firm and across different firms in an industry.

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. GautamSaxena Curious .
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning of Opening Stock Opening stock is the inventory or stock of goods that are available at the beginning of the new accounting year carried down from the previous year's closing stock which is recorded in the books of accounts. In simple words, Opening stock is the goods/quantity/products thatRead more

    Meaning of Opening Stock

    Opening stock is the inventory or stock of goods that are available at the beginning of the new accounting year carried down from the previous year’s closing stock which is recorded in the books of accounts.

    • In simple words, Opening stock is the goods/quantity/products that are held by a business at the beginning of a new accounting period and it is the closing stock of the preceding year carried down.
    • Similarly, the closing stock is the number of unsold goods that remain with the business at the end of an accounting year and is further carried down to the next year as Opening Stock.

     

    Formula

    There are 3 main formulas used for Opening Stock’s calculation. They are-

    • For manufacturing companies

    Opening Stock = Raw Material Cost + Work in Progress + Finished Goods Cost

    • When only Sales, GP, COGS, and Closing Stock are given

    Opening Stock = Sales – Gross Profit – Cost of Goods Sold + Closing Stock

    • You can use this one when only limited information is provided

    Opening Stock = COGS + Closing Inventory – Purchases

     

    Types of Opening Stock

    There are three types of Opening Stock or we may also say that Opening  Stock consists of these 3 elements. They are-

    • Raw Materials- These are the unprocessed goods held by a business that is yet to be converted into finished goods.
    • Work in Progress- These include the goods that are in process but not converted into finished goods.
    • Finished Goods- These are the goods/products that have completed the manufacturing process but have not yet been sold.

    Opening Stock in Final Accounts

    Opening stock is a part of the Trading Account while preparing the Final Accounts. And this is how it is posted in the Trading A/c.

    Trading A/c (for the year ending…)

     

    Example of Opening Stock

    Example

    IKEA, the biggest Furniture manufacturer collected this data on April 1, 2021,

    Timber – $300,000

    Wood – $30,000

    Nails – $15,000

    Pre-cut Wood – $120,000

    Assembled Furniture – $400,000

    Now, adding them (as said earlier, Opening stock is a combination of these three.)

    Opening Stock (Raw Material + Work in Progress + Finished Goods) = $865,000

    Therefore, that’s how one can calculate Opening Stock.

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

    The term "principal book of accounts'' refers to the set of ledgers that an entity prepares to group the similar transactions recorded as journal entries under an account. So to put it simply, the principal book of accounts mean ledgers. Ledgers are prepared by posting the debits and credits of a joRead more

    The term “principal book of accounts” refers to the set of ledgers that an entity prepares to group the similar transactions recorded as journal entries under an account.

    So to put it simply, the principal book of accounts mean ledgers.

    Ledgers are prepared by posting the debits and credits of a journal entry to the respective accounts.

    A ledger groups the transactions concerning the same account. For example, Mr B is a debtor of X Ltd. Hence all the transactions entered into with Mr. will be grouped into the ledger Mr B A/c in the books of X Ltd.

    Ledgers are of utmost importance because all the information to any account can be known by its ledger.

    Preparation of ledger is very important because all the information to any account can be known by its ledger. Ledgers also display the balance of each and every account which may be debit or credit. This helps in the preparation of the trial balance and subsequently the financial statements of an entity.

    Hence, it is the most important book of accounts and calling it the ‘books of final entry’ is also justified.

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Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. Akash Kumar AK
    This answer was edited.

    Goodwill In Accounting Aspect, Goodwill refers to an Intangible asset that facilitates a company in making higher profits and is a result of a business’s consistent efforts over the past years which can be the business's prestige, reputation, good name, customer trust, quality service, etc. GoodwillRead more

    Goodwill

    In Accounting Aspect, Goodwill refers to an Intangible asset that facilitates a company in making higher profits and is a result of a business’s consistent efforts over the past years which can be the business’s prestige, reputation, good name, customer trust, quality service, etc.

    Goodwill has no separate existence although the concept of goodwill comes when a company acquires another company with a willingness to pay a higher price over the fair market value of the company’s net asset in simple words the goodwill can be only realized while at the time of sale of a business.

     

    The formula for Goodwill

     

    Types of Goodwill

    there are two types of goodwill.

     

    1. Inherent Goodwill/Self-generated goodwill

    Inherent goodwill is the internally generated goodwill that was created or generated by the business itself. it is generally generated from the good reputation of the business.

    Inherent Goodwill or Self-generated goodwill is generally not shown in the books or never recognized in the books of Accounts and no journal entry for the inherent goodwill is passed.

     

    2. Purchased Goodwill/Acquired Goodwill

    At the time of acquisition of a business by another business, any amount paid over and above the net assets simply refers to the amount of Purchased Goodwill or Acquired goodwill.

    A Journal entry is passed in the case of the Purchase of goodwill.

     

    Type of Account

    generally, Goodwill is considered and recorded as an Intangible asset(long-term asset) due to its physical absence like other long-term assets.

     

    Modern rule of accounting:

    as per the Modern rule of accounting, all Assets or all possessions of a business are comes under the head Asset accounts.

    as Goodwill is treated as an Intangible asset it is an Asset Account.

     

    Journal entry for purchase of goodwill as per Modern rule

    Goodwill A/c Dr. – Amt

    To Cash/Bank A/c – Amt

    (The modern approach of accounting for the Asset account is: “Debit the increase in asset and Credit the decrease in the asset“)

     

    The golden rule of accounting

    As per the golden rule of accounting, all assets or possessions of a business other than those which are related to any person (debtor’s account) are considered Real accounts.

    Such accounts don’t close by the year-end and are carried forward.

    As Goodwill is an Intangible asset it is treated as a Real account as per the golden rule of accounting.

     

    Journal entry for purchase of goodwill as per Golden rule

    Goodwill A/c Dr. – Amt

    To Cash/Bank A/c – Amt

    (The golden rule of accounting for the Real account is: “Debit what comes in and Credit what Goes out“)

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Aadil
AadilCurious
In: >

  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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Aditi
Aditi
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  2. Mehak

    The terms outstanding expenses and accrued expenses are two accounting terms which are often used interchangeably. However, these two terms are not the same and have different meanings. The difference between these two terms is given below: What are Outstanding expenses? As the name suggests, outstaRead more

    The terms outstanding expenses and accrued expenses are two accounting terms which are often used interchangeably. However, these two terms are not the same and have different meanings. The difference between these two terms is given below:

    What are Outstanding expenses?

    As the name suggests, outstanding expenses are the expenses that are due but have not been paid yet. It means that the business is supposed to pay the amount due but it has not paid the same at the end of the accounting period.

    Outstanding expenses are recognized as a current liability because the business is liable to pay such expenses. These expenses are recorded in the books of accounts but the payment is still pending.

    Some examples of outstanding expenses are:

    1. The electricity bill is due for the month of January but has not yet been paid on 31st January.
    2. Salaries of employees of 50,000 is due for the month of March but have not been paid yet by the business.

    What are Accrued expenses? 

    Accrued expenses are the expenses that a business has incurred during the accounting period but they have not yet been recorded in the books of accounts because the bill has not yet been received or the payment is not due yet.

    The concept of Accrued expenses helps in complying with the accrual basis of accounting which says that the expense shall be recognised at the time it occurs regardless of the fact that payment is received or not.

    Examples of accrued expenses are:

    1. The electricity bill for December is received in the month of January. However, it shall be recognised as an expense in the month of December.
    2. The salaries of the employees for the month of April are paid in May. However, this expense shall be recognized in April.

     

    Key differences between outstanding expenses and accrued expenses

    To summarise the above discussion, the key differences between outstanding expenses and accrued expenses are given in the table below:

     

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. prashant06 B.com, CMA pursuing
    This answer was edited.

    QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. COMPARABILITY: Comparison of financial statements is one of the most frequently used and effective tools of financial analysis. It helps the users of accounting information to compare, analyze and take decisions accordingly. CoRead more

    QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

    1. COMPARABILITY: Comparison of financial statements is one of the most frequently used and effective tools of financial analysis. It helps the users of accounting information to compare, analyze and take decisions accordingly. Comparability enables inter-firm and intra-firm comparisons. It helps to ascertain the growth and progress of the business over time and in comparison to other businesses.

    For example, managers of ITC ltd want to know which business of his is performing well and which needs progress so they would compare the financial statement of its different businesses and make the decision accordingly.

    2. RELEVANCE: It generally means that the essential information should be easily and readily available and any irrelevant information should be avoided. The user of accounting information needs relevant accounting information for a good decision-making process, planning, and predicting future circumstances.

    For example, a firm is expected to provide the total amount owed by the debtors in the balance sheet, whereas the total number of debtors is not important.

    3. UNDERSTANDIBILITY: The financial statement should be presented so that every user can interpret the information without any difficulty in a meaningful and appropriate manner. To be more precise it should be complete, concise, clear, and organized.

    For example, mentioning note number in the financial statement for any items which needs disclosure. This helps the users of accounting to interpret the financial statement without any difficulty.

    4. RELIABILITY: This means the accounting information must be free from material error and bias. All accounting information is verifiable and can be verified from the source documents basically, information should not be vague or false.

    For example, any significant matters like amount due, damages, losses, etc. which impact the financial stability shall be mentioned as disclosure since it is useful for all the users of accounting to be aware of such facts and not to be misguided by incomplete information.

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Jasmeet_Sethi
Jasmeet_SethiCurious
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  2. AishwaryaMunot

    Meaning of Working Capital Firstly, let’s understand the meaning of the working capital. Working capital is the factor which demonstrates the liquidity position of the business to carry out day to day operations. It majorly includes cash & bank balances and liquid assets. Managing working capitaRead more

    Meaning of Working Capital

    Firstly, let’s understand the meaning of the working capital. Working capital is the factor which demonstrates the liquidity position of the business to carry out day to day operations. It majorly includes cash & bank balances and liquid assets.

    Managing working capital is a crucial process to maintain short term liquidity and so ultimately resulting into achieving long term objectives efficiently. Working capital can be calculated by deducting business’s current liabilities from current assets.

    To achieve the ideal working capital requirement for any business, it is important to understand various types of working capital and various ways to manage it.

    Coming to Permanent Working Capital, also called as Fixed Working Capital, it is the minimum working capital required or maintained by businesses. Such type of working capital is maintained to take care of regular financial obligations like creditors, inventory, salaries etc.

    Irrespective of scale of operations carried out in business, Permanent Capital is maintained by businesses which can be in form of Net Working Capital.

    There is no specific formula for calculating Fixed Working Capital, it completely depends upon the business’s assets and liabilities. So accordingly, it can be estimated through the balance sheet of the business.

    For calculating Permanent Working Capital, you can follow below steps:

    1. Calculate Net Working Capital for each day for a whole month
    2. Find the smallest value among them
    3. That will be Permanent Working Capital for the month
    4. Follow the above steps for every month
    5. There you have the annual figure for Permanent Working Capital

    The requirement of Permanent Working Capital changes as the business expands. It is crucial to make sure that the working capital level does not fall below the Permanent Working Capital requirement.

    Types of Permanent Working Capital:

    Permanent working capital is further divided into two types:

    1. Regular working capital – This refers to capital required to maintain healthy cashflow for purchases of raw materials, payment of wages etc.
    2. Reserve working capital – This refers to amount which is more than regular working capital to take care of unexpected business expenses due to contingent events.
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Manvi
Manvi
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Let the business in our example be X Trading. The 15 transactions are as follows: 1st April - X Trading started its business with Rs. 10,000 cash and furniture of Rs. 5,000. 5th April - Purchased 1,000 units of goods for Rs. 1,000 in cash from Ram. 10th April – Bought stationery for Rs. 100 in cash.Read more

    Let the business in our example be X Trading. The 15 transactions are as follows:

    1. 1st April – X Trading started its business with Rs. 10,000 cash and furniture of Rs. 5,000.
    2. 5th April – Purchased 1,000 units of goods for Rs. 1,000 in cash from Ram.
    3. 10th April – Bought stationery for Rs. 100 in cash.
    4. 25Th April – Sold 500 goods for Rs. 750 in cash.
    5. 1st May – Paid a rent of Rs. 1200 ( 1st April to 31st March)
    6. 1st June – Took a loan of Rs. 15,000 from the bank at interest@10%.
    7. 15Th June – Sold 400 goods for Rs. 600 to Shyam in credit.
    8. 1st August – Bought a computer for Rs. 10,000 in from ABC Computers in credit.
    9. 15th October – Received Rs. 300 from Shyam in cash.
    10. 1st November – Purchased 2,000 units of goods for 2,000 from Ram in credit.
    11. 15th November – Paid Rs. 5,000 to ABC Computers through cheque.
    12. 1st December – Sold 1,000 units of goods for Rs. 1,500. Received cheque as payment.
    13. 1st January – Obtained Trade license (valid for 5 years) by paying fees of Rs. 1000 through online bank transfer.
    14. 15Th February – Paid Rs. 1,500 to Ram. Through cheque.
    15. 15Th March – Drawings made of Rs. 2000 in cash.

    We will prepare the journal, ledgers and the trial balance from the above transactions.

    Journal

    Journal is known as the book of primary entry or book of original entry. It is because every transaction is recorded in form of journal entries in the journal. Every journal entry affects at least two accounts (dual effect). A transaction has to be a monetary transaction otherwise it cannot be recorded as a journal entry.

    The procedure of recording transactions as journal entries is simple if we follow the modern rules of accounting.

    So first we have to identify which and what type of account does a transaction affect. The types of accounts are:

    1. Asset – Debit in case of increase Credit in case of decrease.
    2. Liabilities – Debit in case of decrease Credit in case of increase.
    3. Capital – Debit in case of decrease Credit in case of increase.
    4. Expense – Debit in case of increase Credit in case of decrease.
    5. Income – Debit in case of decrease Credit in case of increase.

    Ledger

    Ledgers are known as the books of principal entry or book of final entry. All the journal entries recorded in the journal are posted to the ledgers. A Ledger is where the entries related to a particular account are recorded. For example, all the transactions related to salary will be recorded in the salary account ledger.

    It is very important to prepare the ledger to arrive at the balance of each account in the books of concern so that it can prepare its trial balance.

    The procedure of posting journal entries in the ledger account is done is as follows:

    The ledgers are as follows:

     

     

    Trial Balance

    The trial balance is not a part of the books of accounts. It is just a statement prepared to check the arithmetical accuracy of the books of the accounts. It also helps to know about the omission and posting mistakes. It is prepared after the ledger accounts have been drawn and their balances have been ascertained.

    The balance of all the ledger accounts is posted on either side of the trial balance. Debit balance of the account on the debit side and credit balance of the account on the credit side.

    Also, the closing stock from the financial statements of the previous year is posted on the debit side of the trial balance as opening stock to account for the stock with the business at the beginning of the financial year.

    Following is the trial balance of X trading:

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