AccountingQA Latest Questions

Radha
Radha
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  2. Rahul_Jose Aspiring CA currently doing Bcom

    The term set off in English means to offset something against something else. It thereby refers to reducing the value of an item. In accounting terms, when a debtor can reduce the amount owed to a creditor by cancelling the amount owed by the creditor to the debtor, it is termed as set off. It is coRead more

    The term set off in English means to offset something against something else. It thereby refers to reducing the value of an item. In accounting terms, when a debtor can reduce the amount owed to a creditor by cancelling the amount owed by the creditor to the debtor, it is termed as set off.

    It is commonly used by banks where they seize the amount in a customer’s account to set off the amount of loan unpaid by the customer.

    Types

    There are various types of set-offs as given below:

    • Transaction set-off – This is where a debtor can simply reduce the amount he is owed from the amount he owes to the creditor.
    • Contractual set-off – Sometimes, a debtor agrees to not set off any amount and hence he would have to pay the entire amount to the creditor even if the creditor owed some amount to the debtor.
    • Insolvency set-off – These rules are mandatory and have to be followed under the Insolvency rules 2016.
    • Bankers set-off – Here, the bank sets off the amount of a customer with another account of the customer.

    Example

    Let’s say Divya owes Rs 20,000 to Sherin for the purchase of goods. But, Sherin owed Rs 6,000 to Divya already for use of her Machinery. Therefore, the amount of 6,000 can be set off against the 20,000 owed to Sherin and hence Divya would effectively owe Sherin Rs 14,000.

    This helps in reducing the number of transactions and unnecessary flow of cash.

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

    Fictitious assets On seeing or hearing ‘fictitious’, the words which come to our mind are ‘not true, ‘fake’ or ‘fantasy’. So, fictitious assets are those items that appear on the assets side of the balance sheet but are actually not assets. In substance, fictitious assets are the expenses and lossesRead more

    Fictitious assets

    On seeing or hearing ‘fictitious’, the words which come to our mind are ‘not true, ‘fake’ or ‘fantasy’. So, fictitious assets are those items that appear on the assets side of the balance sheet but are actually not assets.

    In substance, fictitious assets are the expenses and losses that are not completely written off in a financial year and are required to be carried forward to the next financial year.

    The examples of fictitious assets are as follows:

    1. Deferred Advertisement expense
    2. Loss on the issue of debentures.
    3. Debit balance of Profit and Loss account ( Net loss )*
    4. Preliminary expenses.

    Fictitious assets appear on the asset side of the balance sheet as expenses and losses have a debit balance.

    *when the balance sheet is prepared as per Schedule III of Companies Act, the Net loss is shown as a negative figure under the head Reserve and Surplus.

    Intangible Assets

    Intangible assets mean the assets which don’t have any physical existence. They cannot be seen or touched but are assets because they do provide future economic benefits to the business. Like tangible assets (like machinery and building), they can be also created, purchased or sold.

    Like tangible assets are depreciated, intangible assets are gradually written over by amortization over their useful lifespan to account for the economic benefits provided by them.

    Following are the examples of intangible assets:

    1. Goodwill
    2. Brand name
    3. Trademark
    4. Patents
    5. Copyrights

    Intangible assets which are created by the business-like goodwill or brand recognition do not appear in the balance sheet.

    Only acquired intangible assets can be shown in the balance sheet. Like purchased goodwill, patents, trademarks etc.

    Intangible assets also face impairment if their fair value is less than their carrying value after deducting amortization expense. The difference between carrying value and fair value is shown in the Profit and loss A/c as impairment charge and the asset is valued at fair value in the balance sheet.

     

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    Introduction  Working capital refers to the capital which is required by an enterprise to smoothly run its daily operations. It is the measure of the short-term liquidity of a business.  Working capital is the total of the current assets of a business, net of its current liabilities. Working capitalRead more

    Introduction 

    Working capital refers to the capital which is required by an enterprise to smoothly run its daily operations.

    It is the measure of the short-term liquidity of a business. 

    Working capital is the total of the current assets of a business, net of its current liabilities.

    Working capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities 

    The working capital consists of cash, accounts receivable and inventory of raw materials and finished goods fewer accounts payable and other short-term liabilities.

    Without a proper level of working capital, a business cannot maintain regular production and pay its creditors and expenses.

    Hence, for proper management of working capital, it is divided into types:

    • Permanent working capital 
    • Temporary working capital 

    I have discussed them below:

    Permanent Working Capital 

    It is the fixed level or minimum level of working capital that an enterprise needs to maintain to ensure production at the normal capacity and pay for its daily expenses. It is independent of the level of production.

    It is also known as fixed working capital.

    By ‘permanent’,  it does not mean that it will forever remain at the same level or amount but it may change if the overall production capacity changes. But such changes in permanent working capital are not often.

    Temporary Working Capital 

    It is the level of working capital that depends upon the level of production of a business. It is the excess working capital over the permanent capital that is required to meet seasonal high demand.

    It is also known as fluctuating working capital because it tends to change often depending on the level of production.

    Temporary working capital is required when high production is required to meet seasonal demands. 

    For example, a bakery will need more working capital to meet the increased demand for cakes and pastry during Christmas season 

    Graph showing permanent and temporary working capital

    Here, the temporary working capital is fluctuating whereas the permanent working capital is gradually increasing with time.

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