Capital maintenance is a principle that states profit should not be recorded until its cost or capital has been maintained. In other words, profit should not be recognized unless net assets have been maintained. Capital maintenance states that profit recognized is the increase in the value of net asRead more
Capital maintenance is a principle that states profit should not be recorded until its cost or capital has been maintained. In other words, profit should not be recognized unless net assets have been maintained.
Capital maintenance states that profit recognized is the increase in the value of net assets. However, there are two exceptions to it:
- Cash increased because of sale of stock to shareholders
- Cash decreased because of dividend payout to its shareholders
It is important because:
- It protects the interest of shareholders
- It protects the interest of creditors
- Accurately analyzing the performance of the company
Capital maintenance is of two types:
- Financial Capital Maintenance
It is measured by the value of assets at the beginning and end of the financial year.
- Physical Capital Maintenance
It is measured by the production capacity at the beginning and end of the financial year.
Capital maintenance is concerned with keeping proper account balances of assets and not the physical assets.
Inflation is the increase in the economic value of goods due to the lower purchasing power and not an actual increase in the value of assets. So, if the value of an asset is increased due to inflation it does not depict the right picture for the company.
Hence, if the value of assets increases due to inflation, companies need to adjust the value of assets to assess if capital maintenance has occurred.
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Secondary books of accounts are most commonly known as subsidiary books of accounts or day books. They are prepared to record the same type of journals in an ordered manner in a special book. They are nothing, but special journals. Recording all the journals entries in a single journal and these posRead more
Secondary books of accounts are most commonly known as subsidiary books of accounts or day books. They are prepared to record the same type of journals in an ordered manner in a special book. They are nothing, but special journals.
Recording all the journals entries in a single journal and these posting them to different ledgers can be very difficult if the number of transactions is huge.
So, recording the same type of transactions in a special journal proves to be useful in efficient book-keeping and also information retrieval.
There are eight subsidiary books:
Also, there are a few more things to know:-
- Subsidiary books may look like ledger accounts but they are not ledgers. Ledgers are books of final entry and subsidiary books can be said to be the book of intermediate entry and are not but special journals.
- Once transactions are recorded in the subsidiary books, they are then posted to the ledgers.
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