AccountingQA Latest Questions

Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. Kajal
    This answer was edited.

    Yes, Accounts Payable can have a Debit balance. Accounts payable is a liability and thus, has a credit balance but can have a debit balance in case the creditor is overpaid or when there is purchase return (for already-paid goods)   ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Accounts payable refers to all short-term liaRead more

    Yes, Accounts Payable can have a Debit balance. Accounts payable is a liability and thus, has a credit balance but can have a debit balance in case the creditor is overpaid or when there is purchase return (for already-paid goods)

     

    ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

    Accounts payable refers to all short-term liabilities of the business that are to be paid. These are usually paid within a duration of  90 days. It includes both Trade payable (goods and services purchased on credit) as well as expenses payable (used but payment not made yet) like rent payable, electricity bill, etc.

    Businesses cannot make every payment on the spot. There can be cases when the business is facing a shortage of funds, can have funds but doesn’t have enough cash (or liquid funds) to make payment or simply doesn’t want to make payment on the spot to reduce its capital requirement.

    So, like us businessmen also purchase goods on credit or use services for which payment is to be made soon. All these are liabilities for the business.

    However, they must be related to the business to be considered as accounts payable.

     

    DEBIT BALANCE OF ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 

    Debit balance of accounts payable means money owed by others. There is Debit balance when

    OVERPAYMENT is made to the creditors or the supplier. It happens when the wrong amount is paid or payment is made twice for the same transaction.

    Suppose you need to pay $10,000 as rent within 30 days. After 25 days you mistakenly made a payment of $12,000.

    In this case,

    • Firstly, you will record the transaction by crediting Accounts payable (as liability increased) by $10,000
    • When payment is made after 25 days, Accounts Payable is debited by $12,000 (as liability decreased)
    • So, there will be a debit balance of $2,000 (which means the creditor owes you) till the creditor returns the excess amount.

     

    PURCHASE RETURN of already paid goods also result in debit balance of Accounts Payable.

    Suppose you bought goods worth $50,000 from Mr A on credit and paid for the same. Later, you returned all the goods because they were defective. Now, there will be Debit balance of Accounts Payable till there is a full refund of $50,000 by Mr A.

     

    How is Accounts Payable Treated Normally?

    Accounts Payable are the current liabilities of the firm and are shown under the head Current Liabilities in the Balance Sheet. Its liability, thus has a credit balance which represents the amount owed by the firm to others. It is credited when increases and debited when decreases.

    For example – Suppose you purchased goods worth $30,000 and agreed to pay after 30 days. So, Accounts payable will be credited by $30,000 and purchases will be debited by $30,000.

    Purchases A/c – $30,000 (debit)

    To Accounts Payable A/c – $30,000

    After 30 days payment is made in cash, which means the liability decreased. So, Accounts Payable A/c will be debited.

    Accounts Payable A/c – $30,00

    To Cash – $30,000

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Ayushi
AyushiCurious
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  2. ShreyaSharma none
    This answer was edited.

    Journal entries in the ledger What is a Journal Entry? Journal entry is a form of bookkeeping. All the economic or non-economic transactions in the business are recorded in the journal entries showing a company's debit or credit balances. It is a double-entry accounting method and requires at leastRead more

    Journal entries in the ledger

    What is a Journal Entry?

    Journal entry is a form of bookkeeping. All the economic or non-economic transactions in the business are recorded in the journal entries showing a company’s debit or credit balances. It is a double-entry accounting method and requires at least two accounts or more in a transaction.

    The journal entry helps to identify the transactions. We use journals to get a running list of business transactions. Each journal entry provides this specific information about a transaction:

    • Date of the transaction.
    • Accounts involved in it.
    • Payer, payee, receiver, etc.
    • Account name.
    • Debit and credit of money.

     

    General Ledger 

    After the transactions are recorded in the journal, they are posted in the principal book called ‘Ledger’. A ledger account contains information about a specific account. It contains the opening balance as well as the closing balances of an account. It summarizes the business transactions.

    Transferring the entries from journals to respective ledger accounts is called ledger posting or posting to the ledger accounts. Balancing of ledgers is carried out to find differences at the year’s end, it means finding the difference between the debit and credit amounts of a particular account.

     

    For instance,

    Suppose goods were bought for cash. While passing the journal entry, we’ll be debiting the purchases a/c and crediting the cash a/c by stating it as, ‘To Cash A/c’.

    Now, this entry will be affecting both the purchases account and the cash account. In the cash account, we’ll be debiting purchases. Whereas in the purchases account, we’ll be crediting the cash. That’s how it works in the double-entry bookkeeping system of accounting.

     

    Example

    Mr. Tony Stark started the business with cash of $100,000. He bought furniture for business for $15,000. He further purchased goods for $75,000. He hired an employee and paid him a salary of $5,000.

    Now, we’ll be journalizing the transactions and posting them into the ledger accounts.

    Journal Entries

    Recording into Ledger Account

    Cash A/c

    Capital A/c

    Furniture A/c

    Purchases A/c

    Salary A/c

    Note: The balance b/d is not applicable as this is the business’ commencement year.

     

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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. SidharthBadlani CA Inter Student
    This answer was edited.

    The profit earned by an entity is determined through the profit and loss account. All the expenses are recorded on the debit side of the profit and loss account while all the incomes are recorded on the credit side. The profit is shown as the credit balance of profit and loss A/c. When the sum of itRead more

    The profit earned by an entity is determined through the profit and loss account. All the expenses are recorded on the debit side of the profit and loss account while all the incomes are recorded on the credit side.

    The profit is shown as the credit balance of profit and loss A/c. When the sum of items on the debit side of a profit and loss account is less than the sum of those on the credit side, it implies profit while when the sum of the items on the credit side is less than the sum of those on the debit side, it implies a loss for the entity.

    The Reason for Credit

    Profit is recorded as an increase in equity

    To understand the reason why profit is recorded as a credit balance, we must first understand the basic principle of debit and credit.

    The basic principle of debits and credits is that debits increase asset accounts and decrease liability and equity accounts while credits decrease asset accounts and increase liability and equity accounts.

    The revenue that a company earns is credited to the income account and increases equity.

    The expenses that a company incurs to earn that revenue are debited to the expense account and decrease equity.

    The difference between revenue and expenses is the profit, which is recorded as an increase in equity.

    Increase in equity due to revenue – decrease in equity due to expense = profit

    Gross Profit Vs Net Profit

    Revenue is the total income that a business or profession earns. Profit is the excess revenue that remains after reducing all expenses from it.

    Gross profit is the profit that a company earns after reducing the cost of goods sold from sales revenue while net profit is the profit that a business earns after reducing the total of all its direct and indirect expenses from its direct as well as indirect allowable business income.

     

    Conclusion

    The basic principle of debit and credit governs the classification of profit as a debit or credit. Since profit increases our equity, it is a credit.

    In the case of a company, it belongs to the shareholders. It is usually recorded in the retained earnings account. Profit can be reinvested in the business or can be distributed as a dividend. In the case of a sole proprietorship, the profit belongs to the owner and is recorded in the owner’s capital account.

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Manvi
Manvi
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    The profit and loss appropriation account is an account created in addition to the Trading & Profit and loss account in the case of partnership firms. It is a nominal account. The net profit or loss from the Profit and loss account is transferred to the Capital A/c when we do the accounting of sRead more

    The profit and loss appropriation account is an account created in addition to the Trading & Profit and loss account in the case of partnership firms. It is a nominal account.

    The net profit or loss from the Profit and loss account is transferred to the Capital A/c when we do the accounting of sole proprietors.

    But, while doing the accounting of partnership, there is a need to appropriate this profit or loss as there are two or more partners’ capital accounts. So, for this purpose, the Profit and loss appropriation account is created.

    The net profit or loss is appropriated among the partner’s capital after adjustment the items like partner’s salary, commission, interest on capital, interest on drawing etc. It consists of items related to the partner’s claim.

    The format of the profit and loss appropriation account is as below:

    Let solve a problem to sharpen our concept:

    A and B are partners in firm sharing profits and losses in the ratio of 4:1. On 1st January 2019, their capitals were ₹ 20,000 and ₹ 10,000 respectively. The partnership deed specifies the following:

    1. Interest on capital is to be allowed at 5% per annum.
    2. Interest on drawings charged to A and B are ₹ 200 and ₹ 300 respectively.
    3. The net profit of the firm before considering interest on capital and interest on drawings amounted to ₹ 18,000.
    4. A is to be paid an annual salary of ₹2000

    Prepare Profit and loss appropriation account for the year ending 31st December 2019.

    Solution:

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Naina@123
Naina@123
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  2. prashant06 B.com, CMA pursuing
    This answer was edited.

    First, let us understand the meaning of a provision of depreciation. It is nothing but the total collection of all the depreciation over the years. This account is not like a normal account but a contra asset account. It is also called accumulated depreciation. Annual depreciation charged is an expeRead more

    First, let us understand the meaning of a provision of depreciation. It is nothing but the total collection of all the depreciation over the years. This account is not like a normal account but a contra asset account. It is also called accumulated depreciation.

    Annual depreciation charged is an expense for the business and hence has a debit balance. Whereas provision for depreciation as a contra asset account has a credit balance.

    The journal entry for provision for depreciation is

    Depreciation A/c                                                      ……….Dr XXX
               To Provision for depreciation XXX

    Explaining the credit nature of this account. As we know that the depreciation is an expense for the business hence as per modern rules “Debit all the expenses and losses and credit all incomes and gains” therefore it is debited whereas the provision of depreciation is contra account it has a credit balance as it reduces the value of assets. So according to modern rule, we know a decrease in assets has a credit balance, hence shown in a negative balance on the balance sheet under long-term assets.

    With the preparation of this account, we do not credit depreciation in the asset account but transfer every year to the accumulated depreciation account, and when assets are disposed of or sold we credit the ‘total’ of the provision on depreciation to the credit of the asset account just to calculate the actual profit or loss on a sale of the asset.

     

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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. Saurav

    Accruals are not the same as provisions both are totally different from each other. Accruals and provision both are vital parts of accounts but work differently   Accrual Accrual expense means the transaction that takes place in a particular period must be accounted for in that period only irreRead more

    Accruals are not the same as provisions both are totally different from each other. Accruals and provision both are vital parts of accounts but work differently

     

    Accrual

    Accrual expense means the transaction that takes place in a particular period must be accounted for in that period only irrespective of the fact when such an amount has been paid.

    An accrual of the expenditure which is not paid will be listed in the books of accounts. These accruals can be further divided into two parts

     

    Accrual Expense

    Accrual Expense means any transaction that takes place in a particular period but the amount for it will be paid on a later period.

    For example- 10,000 for the month of March was paid in April month then this rent will be accounted for in the books in March

    These are the following accrued expense

    • Accrual Rent– Accrual rent means the amount for using the land of the landlord is paid at a later period than the period when it is put into use.
    • Insurance– Accrual insurance means the amount paid as a premium to the insurance company paid on a later period than the period when it is due
    • Expense- Acrrual expense means the amount for any expense paid on a later period then the period when it pertains to be paid
    • Wages- Accrual wages means the amount which is paid to employees on a later period than the period when the wages get due

     

    Accrual Revenue

    Accrual Revenue means any transaction that takes place in a particular period but the amount for it will be received on later period. For example- If interest of 10,000 on bonds for the period of March is received in April months then this amount will be accounted for in March. These are the following accrued revenue

    • Accrual Rent– Accrual rent means the amount for using the land of an entity by another party is received on a later period than the period when it was put into use.
    • Accrued Interest– Accrued interest means the amount of interest received on a later period than the period when it pertains to receive

     

    PROVISIONS

    Provision refers to making a provision/allowance against any probable future expense that the company might incur in the near future. This amount is uncertain and difficult to predict its surety.

    However, as per the prudence concept of accounting a company needs to anticipate the losses that will incur in the near future due to which provision is made.

    For example- A company has debtors of 10,000 but as per the company’s previous records company anticipates that 1% of debtors will become bad debts. So in this case company will make a provision of 1% that is 100 on it.

    There are various types of provisions which are-

    • Provision on Depreciation– Provision for Depreciation means a provision for future depletion of assets has been already created
    • Provision for Doubtful Debts– Provision for Doubtful Debts means a provision created against debtors that doesn’t seem to be recovered in the near future
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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. Simerpreet Helpful CMA Inter qualified
    This answer was edited.

    Specimen of Ledger account This is the specimen of a ledger account. J.F. here represents the journal folio. A Ledger account is an account that consists of all the business transactions that take place during the current financial year. For Example, cash, bank, machinery, A/c receivable account, etRead more

    Specimen of Ledger account

    This is the specimen of a ledger account. J.F. here represents the journal folio.

    A Ledger account is an account that consists of all the business transactions that take place during the current financial year.

    For Example, cash, bank, machinery, A/c receivable account, etc.

    After the financial data is recorded in the Journal. It is then classified according to the nature of accounts viz. Asset, liability, expenses, revenue, and capital to be posted in the ledger account.

    With this head, the identification as to whether the opening balance will come under the debit side or the credit side is done.

    The table below would help to understand the concept of opening balance in the ledger.

    For further clarification of the concept let me give you a practical example.

    Suppose, a manufacturing firm Amul purchased machinery for, say, Rs 2,50,000. The installation charges were Rs 25,000 and the opening balance of machinery during the year was Rs 5,00,000.

    So as the machinery account comes under the category assets, its opening balance would come under the debit side of the ledger account.

    And as purchase and installation charges mean expenses for the firm, they would also come under the debit side of the account.

    And in case of any sale of a part of the machinery, it would be posted on the credit side of the account as the sales would generate revenue for the firm.

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SidharthBadlani
SidharthBadlani
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  2. Ishika Pandey Curious ca aspirant
    This answer was edited.

    Definition Posting refers to moving the transaction entries from the journal to the ledger books of the company. It is an important part of the accounting cycle. Posting helps us to classify transactions in a better manner. A journal is used to record transactions in chronological order while ledgerRead more

    Definition

    Posting refers to moving the transaction entries from the journal to the ledger books of the company. It is an important part of the accounting cycle.

    Posting helps us to classify transactions in a better manner.

    A journal is used to record transactions in chronological order while ledger books are used to classify transactions into assets, liabilities, expenses, and incomes.

    Steps of Posting

    • Create and name ledger accounts for different items of trial balance

    • Identify those entries in the journal that relate to the relevant ledger book under consideration.

    • Post the entry on the debit or credit side of the ledger account.

    • For example, when salaries are paid a salary account is debited and a bank account is credited. When posting this transaction in the bank account we will debit the bank account and write “To salaries” under the head “particular”. This will indicate that salaries were paid from a bank account causing a reduction in the bank balance.

    • After all the journal entries relevant to a particular ledger account have been posted in it, we will tally the total of the debit and the credit side of the ledger account to ascertain any balance left.

    • Usually, asset accounts have the debit side exceeding the credit side. That is to say, they have a debit balance. Liability accounts usually have a credit balance.

    • It is not necessary that every ledger account may have a balance left at the end. The total of the amounts on the debit side may be equal to the total of the amounts on the credit side in some ledger accounts.

    • The last step is to recheck the ledger account to identify and correct any mistakes that may have occurred during the posting process.

    Importance of Posting

    • Posting helps us to classify transactions in a better and more efficient manner.

    • Posting makes the books of accounts more readable.

    • An accountant may choose to engage in posting once every month or even once every day as per the requirements of the business and the financial reporting norms.

    • Posting is necessary for the creation of financial statements. A trial balance cannot be drafted without determining the balance of each ledger account.

    • Posting helps us to know the balance of each account This helps to run the business smoothly by tracking balances timely and making up for any likely deficiency in advance.

    • Analysis of how balances of various ledger accounts have changed over time helps us to draw valuable conclusions for the business.

    Conclusion

    We can conclude by saying that the process of posting refers to transferring the entries from the journal to the ledger accounts.

    Posting is an essential step of the accounting cycle and without it, financial statements cannot be prepared. Any error while posting is bound to adversely affect the creation of the financial statements.

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. Naina@123 (B.COM and CMA-Final)
    This answer was edited.

    Let me explain to you in short what is unrecorded assets in the partnership. Basically, these are the assets that are not recorded in the books of accounts but are still present in the business in physical form. These assets are directly credited to the realization account at the time of dissolutionRead more

    Let me explain to you in short what is unrecorded assets in the partnership. Basically, these are the assets that are not recorded in the books of accounts but are still present in the business in physical form. These assets are directly credited to the realization account at the time of dissolution of the partnership firm

    Unrecorded assets are treated in two ways:

    1. Either they can be sold for cash.
    2. Taken over by any of the partners.

    The journal entry for the unrecorded assets sold in cash is as follows:

    Bank A/c                                                                           ……..Dr xxx
                To Realization A/c xxx
    (Being unrecorded assets sold for cash)

    To make the entries more simple for you let me give you a small example

    A partnership firm has decided to dissolve its business. The firm had old furniture which was completely written off. They decide to sell the furniture for Rs 3,000. Here we can see that the firm has decided to realize its furniture by selling them in cash. Therefore the journal entry would be

    Bank A/c                                                                    ……..Dr 3,000
                To Realisation A/c 3,000
    (Being old furniture sold for cash)

    And the journal entry for unrecorded assets taken over by the partner is as follows:

    Partner’s capital A/c                                                      ……..Dr xxx
                To Realization A/c xxx
    (Being unrecorded taken over by the partner)

    For example:

    A partnership firm has decided to dissolve its business. The firm had old furniture which was completely written off. One of the pieces of furniture was taken over by one of the partners for Rs 3,000. Here we can see that the firm has decided to realize its furniture by taking over the partner. Therefore the journal entry would be

    Bank A/c                                                                    ……..Dr 3,000
                To Partnership A/c 3,000
    (Being old furniture taken by partner)

    As realization is a nominal account it debits all expenses and losses while credit all incomes and gains. Therefore when a business treats unrecorded assets either by selling them or is taken over by the partner’s, it brings a certain amount of cash into the business hence Bank A/c and Partner’s capital account is debited in the journal entry and appear on the credit side of the realization account.

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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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