AccountingQA Latest Questions

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

    The profits earned by a company are mainly divided into two parts: Dividend, and Retained Earnings The part of profit distributed to its shareholders is called a dividend. The part of the profit that the company holds for future expansion or diversification plans is called retained earnings. As theRead more

    The profits earned by a company are mainly divided into two parts:

    • Dividend, and
    • Retained Earnings

    The part of profit distributed to its shareholders is called a dividend. The part of the profit that the company holds for future expansion or diversification plans is called retained earnings.

    As the name suggests, retained earnings are the profit that is retained in the company. Retained earnings can be used for various purposes:

    • To distribute as dividends to shareholders
    • Expansion of business
    • Diversification
    • For an expected merger or acquisition

    As the profits of the company belong to shareholders, retained earnings are considered as profits re-invested in the company by the shareholders.

    The formula to calculate the cost of retained earnings is:

    (Expected dividend per share / Net proceeds) + growth rate

    • Expected dividend is the dividend an investor expects for his investment in the company’s shares based on the last year’s dividend, trends in the markets, and financial statements presented by the company.
    • Net proceeds is the market value of a share, that is, how much an investor would get if he sells his shares today.
    • Growth rate represents growth of company’s revenue, dividend from previous years in the form of a percentage.

    The expected dividend per share is divided by net proceeds or the current selling price of the share, to find out the market value of retained earnings.

    The growth rate is then added to the formula. It’s the rate at which the dividend grows in the company.

    For example:

    The net proceeds from share is Rs 100, expected dividend growth rate is 2% and expected dividend is 5.

    Cost of retained earnings

    = (Expected dividend per share / Net proceeds) + Growth rate

    = (5 / 100) + 0.02

    = 0.07 or 7%

     

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Karan
Karan
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  2. Pooja_Parikh Aspiring Chartered Accountant

    No, Goodwill cannot be called a fictitious asset. A fictitious asset does not have any physical existence or realizable value. Although it is recorded in the assets column, it is not really an asset, rather it is an expense that is incurred during the accounting period. Its benefit, however, is realRead more

    No, Goodwill cannot be called a fictitious asset.

    A fictitious asset does not have any physical existence or realizable value. Although it is recorded in the assets column, it is not really an asset, rather it is an expense that is incurred during the accounting period. Its benefit, however, is realized for extended periods. This is why they are recorded as assets. They are recorded in a single year and are amortized over the years. A fictitious asset is neither tangible nor intangible.

    Examples of Fictitious Assets

    • Preliminary expenses
    • Promotional expenses
    • Discount on issue of shares/debentures etc.

    Now, goodwill is an intangible asset that relates to the purchase of a company. It is the amount that a company pays over the net worth of the company being purchased. This can be because of its brand value, good customer base, etc. As a company’s reputation improves, its goodwill increases accordingly. Therefore, It does not have a tangible existence but it does have a monetary value. They are also recorded on the asset side of the balance sheet under the head “Intangible assets”.

    Reason for not being a fictitious asset

    Since goodwill is an asset and not an expense, it cannot be called a fictitious asset. Moreover, goodwill has a realizable value. Unlike fictitious assets, goodwill can be purchased or sold. Therefore, goodwill is termed as an intangible asset but not a fictitious asset. The major difference between an intangible asset and a fictitious asset is:

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AbhishekBatabyal
AbhishekBatabyalHelpful
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA

    Introduction Internal reconstruction refers to the process of restructuring a sick company’s balance sheet by certain methods to turn it financially healthy, thus saving it from potential liquidation. Explanation When a company has been making losses for many years, it has a huge amount of accumulatRead more

    Introduction

    Internal reconstruction refers to the process of restructuring a sick company’s balance sheet by certain methods to turn it financially healthy, thus saving it from potential liquidation.

    Explanation

    When a company has been making losses for many years, it has a huge amount of accumulated losses due to which the reserve and surplus appear at a very low or negative amount in the balance sheet.

    Also, such a company is said to be overcapitalised as it is not able to generate enough returns to its capital.

    As the company is overcapitalised, the assets are also overvalued. The balance sheet also contains many fictitious assets and unrepresented intangible assets.

    The balance sheet of such a ‘sick’ company looks like the following:

    Hence, to save the company from liquidation,

    • its assets and liabilities are revalued and reassessed,
    • its capital is reduced by paying off part of paid-up capital to shareholders or cancelling the paid-up capital.
    • the right of shareholders related to preference dividends is altered,
    • agreements are made with creditors to reduce their claims and
    • fictitious assets and accumulated losses are written off.

    In this way, its balance sheet gets rid of all undesirable elements and the company gets a new life without being liquidated.  This process is known as internal reconstruction.

    Legal compliance

    The internal reconstruction of a company is governed by the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.

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A_Team
A_Team
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  2. ShreyaSharma none
    This answer was edited.

    Prepaid Payable Prepaid payable or prepaid expenses refer to the future expenses that have been paid in advance. It is an advance payment made by the business for the goods and services to be received by the business in the future. A prepaid expense is an asset on the balance sheet. The number of prRead more

    Prepaid Payable

    Prepaid payable or prepaid expenses refer to the future expenses that have been paid in advance. It is an advance payment made by the business for the goods and services to be received by the business in the future.

    A prepaid expense is an asset on the balance sheet. The number of prepaid expenses that will be used up within one year is reported on a company’s balance sheet as a current asset. According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), expenses should be recorded in the same accounting period as the benefit generated from the related asset.

    Example

    ABC Ltd. purchases insurance for the warehouse. It was ₹2,000 per month. The company pays ₹24,000 in cash upfront for a 12-month insurance policy for the warehouse. Each month an adjusting journal entry will be passed, adjusting the amount of insurance used from the prepaid insurance.

    Journal Entry-

    Prepaid Expenses in Balance Sheet-

    Prepaid expenses are shown in the balance sheet under the current assets heading as it’s a short-term asset and to be consumed within one accounting year.

    Balance Sheet (for the year ending…)

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

    Definition A ledger may be defined as a book that contains, in a summarized and classified form, a permanent record of all transactions. Or in other words, we can say a group of accounts with different characteristics. It is also called the Principal Book of accounts. For example:- salary account, aRead more

    Definition

    A ledger may be defined as a book that contains, in a summarized and classified form, a permanent record of all transactions.

    Or in other words, we can say a group of accounts with different characteristics.

    It is also called the Principal Book of accounts.

    For example:– salary account, and debtor account.

    Sub- ledger it is defined as a group of accounts with common characteristics. And is a part of ledger accounts.

    For example:- customer account, vendor account, etc.

    The difference between a ledger and a sub-ledger is that ledger accounts control sub-ledger accounts whereas a sub-ledger is a part of the ledger account.

    Features Of Ledger

    • Ledger is prepared from the journal.
    • Ledger is a master record of all the accounts of the business.
    • The Ledger account shows the current balances of all accounts.
    • Ledger accounts summarize the effect of transactions upon assets, liabilities, capital, incomes, and expenditures.

    Features Of Sub-Ledger

    • Sub-ledger in accounting provides up-to-date information about the daily activities of the business.
    • It keeps individual track of all balances.
    • Help locate errors in individual accounts.
    • A sub-ledger is a collection of different ledgers used in an account.

     

    Utilities of ledger

    The main utilities of a ledger are summarized as follows :

    • Provides complete information about a particular account: Complete information relating to a particular account is available in one place in the ledger.

    • Information on income and expenses: In the ledger, a separate account is maintained for each income and expense. The amount of total income and total expenses are known from the ledger accounts.

    • Preparation of trial balance: Ledger helps in preparing trial balances which ensure arithmetical accuracy of the transaction recorded in the books of account.

    • Helps in preparing final accounts: After preparing the trial balance, final accounts are prepared to know the profitability and financial position of the business.

    Utilities of sub-ledger

    The utilities of the sub-ledger are as follows :

    • Track customer information: If a client has an outstanding credit debt or needs money refunded, a company can use a sub-ledger to verify the information quickly.

    • Protect financial information: A sub-ledger allows a financial supervisor to isolate certain records so that employees can view only parts of the company’s financial information. This added level of security is important for large corporations.

    • Create separate databases: Large companies usually process large amounts of financial data that may be too big for one database. Software programs organize this data into isolated files to calculate financial information in the general ledger of a business.

    Conclusion

    So here I conclude that a ledger is compulsory in the recording process whereas a sub-ledger is optional.

    The ledger is used for preparing trial balance but the sub-ledger is not used for the same.
    Sub ledger is controlled by the ledger.

    The sub-ledger supports the transaction of each specific account indicated on the ledger.

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Astha
AsthaLeader
In: >

Capital
  2. Simerpreet Helpful CMA Inter qualified
    This answer was edited.

    As per Wiki, it is also called construction in progress. Capital work in progress is a non-current asset of an entity. It is also known as CWIP in short. CWIP is the work which is not yet completed but the amount for which has already been paid. Suppose, at the time of preparing a balance sheet, ifRead more

    As per Wiki, it is also called construction in progress. Capital work in progress is a non-current asset of an entity. It is also known as CWIP in short.

    CWIP is the work which is not yet completed but the amount for which has already been paid.

    Suppose, at the time of preparing a balance sheet, if an asset is not completed, all the costs incurred on that asset up to the balance sheet date are to be transferred to an account called capital work in progress.

    Example 1: A machinery under installation.

    There are several expenses incurred while installing machinery, expenses such as labor charges, Initial delivery and handling costs, Assembly and installation cost, etc are included in CWIP and when the asset is completed and is ready to use, all the costs are transferred to the relevant accounts.

    To make it simpler, let me show journal entries relating to this example.

    When an expense is incurred/paid:

    Journal entry for capital work in progress when an expense is incurred

    When an asset is complete and put to use:

    Journal entry for capital work in progress when asset is complete and put to use

    Example 2: A Contractor is constructing a building. The following expenditures are being incurred to date:

    i) Raw materials – 5,00,000

    ii) Payment to Architect – 3,50,000

    iii) Advance for Equipments – 1,50,000

    Following accounting entries will be passed to record the expenditure on CWIP assets:

    capital work in progress journal entries example

    The following accounting entry will be passed once assets are ready to use:

    entry to show cwip when asset is complete

    Disclosure in the Balance sheet

    CWIP account is shown separately in the balance sheet below the fixed asset.

    we cannot depreciate capital work in progress. It can only be depreciated when the asset is put to use.

    Capital work in progress shown in balance sheet

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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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Vijay
VijayCurious
In: >

Capital Expenditure Revenue Expenditure Cash Expense Credit Expense

  2. Karan B.com and Pursuing ACCA
    This answer was edited.

    The correct answer is 2. Revenue Expenditure. An honorarium is a voluntary payment paid to a person for the services provided. It is a type of cost incurred for the expenses of guests and volunteers. This is a payment made to the person who is not an employee of the institution. Revenue expendituresRead more

    The correct answer is 2. Revenue Expenditure. An honorarium is a voluntary payment paid to a person for the services provided. It is a type of cost incurred for the expenses of guests and volunteers. This is a payment made to the person who is not an employee of the institution.

    Revenue expenditures are the short-term expenses and consumed within one accounting year and are also known as operating expenses.

    Payment of honorarium to the secretary is treated as revenue expenditure because benefits from the expense are derived in the same accounting period. The honorarium is a type of outside expense and any outside expense is revenue in nature. It is a daily allowance incurred to cover the hotel/stay expense.

    Payment of honorarium to the secretary is shown on the Expenditure side of the Income and Expenditure Account.

    Capital Expenditure is the expense incurred on acquiring an asset and honorarium cannot be a capital expenditure as benefits derived from it cannot be carried forward to the next year.

    It cannot be treated as cash or credit expense although it is paid in cash or credit. In this case, it will be treated as a revenue expense while preparing financial statements.

    Payment of honorarium is mainly a topic of not-for-profit organizations.

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