The term ‘contra’ means 'opposite'. Therefore, a contra revenue account is an account that is opposite of the revenue accounts of a business i.e. sales account. It has the opposite balance of the revenue account i.e. debit balance. The purpose of the contra revenue account is to ascertain the actuaRead more
The term ‘contra’ means ‘opposite’. Therefore, a contra revenue account is an account that is opposite of the revenue accounts of a business i.e. sales account. It has the opposite balance of the revenue account i.e. debit balance.
The purpose of the contra revenue account is to ascertain the actual amount of sales and record the items which have reduced the sales.
These are the contra revenue accounts commonly seen in businesses:
- Sales return account: This account records the amount of goods sold returned by customers. The journal entry for recording sale return is as follow:

The total sales return is deducted from the sales in the balance sheet. Though being opposite of the sales account, the sale return account is not an expense account. It is considered an indirect loss as it reduces sales.
- Sale Discount account: This account records the amount of discount allowed to customers. The journal entry for recording sale discounts is as follows:

Sales discount is an expense hence it is debited to the profit and loss account.
Sales returns and sales discounts are shown in the trading and profit and loss account in the following manner:






Biological Assets comes under International Accounting Standard IAS 41 Agriculture. IAS 41 Agriculture is the first standard that specifically covers the primary sector. The scope of IAS 41 is accounting for agricultural activity. Agricultural Activity- It is the management of biological transformatRead more
Biological Assets comes under International Accounting Standard IAS 41 Agriculture.
IAS 41 Agriculture is the first standard that specifically covers the primary sector. The scope of IAS 41 is accounting for agricultural activity.
IAS 41 does not apply to
Biological Assets
Definition
Biological assets are living plants or animals that go through biological transformation, owned by an entity to prepare agricultural produce for the purpose of agricultural activities only.
Living plants include plants that are consumable within 1 year and are harvested. It also includes plants that are used for lumbering and wood-cutting activities.
Examples
Examples of biological assets are:
Sheep, pigs, poultry, beef cattle, fish, dairy cows, plants for harvest etc
Importance
Accounting & Presentation
Recognition
Under IAS 41 biological assets are recognised when
Agricultural produce is recognised
Agricultural produce is derecognised when
Measurement
Gains & Losses
Treatment
- The sale of agricultural produce is treated as revenue in the statement of profit and loss.
- Agricultural produce to be harvested for more than 12 months, livestock to be held for more than 12 months and trees cultivated for lumber are recorded as Biological assets under the Non-current assets head in the balance sheet.
- Agricultural produce to be harvested within 12 months, livestock to be slaughtered within 12 months and annual crops like wheat, and maize are recorded as Biological assets under the head Current assets in the balance sheet.
- Inventories produced from agricultural produce are presented as Inventory under the head Current assets in the balance sheet.
See less