Sunday, March 22, 2015

Objectives, Scope and Definitions of IAS 1


The purpose of financial statements is to provide information about financial position, financial performance and cash flows.
The objective of IAS 1 is to set out the basis for the presentation of financial statements and to ensure comparability with previous periods and with other entities. The standard identifies a minimum content of what should be included in a set of financial statements as well as guidelines as to their structure, although rigid formats are not prescribed.
Scope:
IAS 1 applies to all general purpose financial statements prepared and presented in
accordance with international standards. [IAS 1.2]
“General purpose” financial statements are statements that have been prepared for use by those who are not in a position to require an entity to prepare reports tailored to their own information needs.
 Reports prepared at the request of an entity’s management or bankers are not general purpose financial statements, because they are prepared specifically to meet the needs of management/bankers.

The Complete Set of Financial Statements
Statement of
financial
position
Statement of
comprehensive
income
Statement of
changes in
equity
Statement of
cash flows
Notes
Assets,
liabilities &
equity
Income
(including
gains) and
expenses
(including
losses)
All changes
in equity
Summary of
major cash
inflows and
outflows
dealt with in
IAS 7
Significant
accounting
policies and
other
explanatory
notes
Reporting period
It is normal for entities to present financial statements annually and IAS 1 states that they should be prepared at least as often as this. If (unusually) the end of an entity's reporting period is changed, for whatever reason, the period for which the statements are presented will be less or more than one year. In such cases the entity should also disclose:
(a) The reason(s) why a period other than one year is used
(b) The fact that the comparative figures given are not in fact comparable
For practical purposes, some entities prefer to use a period which approximates to a year, eg 52 weeks, and the IAS allows this approach as it will produce statements not materially different from those produced on an annual basis.
Timeliness
If the publication of financial statements is delayed too long after the reporting period, their usefulness will be severely diminished. An entity with consistently complex operations cannot use this as a reason for its failure to report on a timely basis. Local legislation and market regulation imposes specific deadlines on certain entities.
Fair presentation and compliance with IFRS
IAS 1 requires that the financial statements should present fairly the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the entity.
 Fair presentation is defined as representing faithfully the effects of transactions, other events, and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria in the IASB Framework. Under IAS 1 application of international standards along with any relevant interpretations and disclosures is presumed to result in a fair presentation. [IAS 1.15]
 Offsetting
Assets and liabilities should not be offset against each other unless this is specifically required or permitted by a standard. This is because the offsetting or netting of items is assumed to make it more difficult for the users of financial statements to understand past transactions and assess future cash flows. [IAS 1.32]
 Other considerations
In order for financial statements to be comparable, certain overall considerations need to be followed in the preparation of the financial statements, as set out below.
 Going concern
When preparing a set of financial statements, management should assume, unless there are specific reasons to believe otherwise, that the business will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. This is known as the going concern concept. This is particularly relevant when management make estimates about the expected outcome of events, such as the recoverability of trade receivables and the useful lives of non-current assets. [IAS 1.25]
 Accrual concept
Financial statements should be prepared by applying the accrual concept. In its simplest form the accrual concept means that assets are recognised when they are receivable rather than when physically received, and liabilities are recognised when they are payable rather than when actually paid. This is not relevant for the preparation of the statement of cash flows which is based purely on cash flows. [IAS 1.27
 Consistency of presentation
To aid comparability of financial statements year on year and across different entities it is important that a consistent presentation and classification of items is followed. The presentation should only be changed where a new or revised standard requires such a change or where there has been a significant change in the nature of the entity’s operations and a new presentation would therefore be more appropriate. [IAS 1.45]


Materiality and aggregation
IAS 1 requires that items that are of importance to the users of the financial statements in making economic decisions should be separately identified within the financial statements. Such items are defined as being “material”. In assessing whether items are considered to be material, the entity should consider both the nature and size of the item. For example, the purchase of large tangible assets may be common for a particular entity, and therefore it would generally be appropriate to aggregate such items together as the purchase of plant. However, a fairly small transaction with a director may be considered as important information for users of the financial statements. [IAS 1.7, 1.29]
 Comparative information
Comparative information for the previous period should be disclosed for all amounts reported in the financial statements unless a particular standard does not require such information. This includes the requirement to show comparative information in narrative disclosures where it is relevant to the full understanding of the explanation. [IAS 1.38] If adjustments to prior periods have been made as a result of a change in accounting policy or of correction of errors, a statement of financial condition at the beginning of the previous period should be presented. [IAS 1.10]
Additional disclosures

A number of additional disclosures are required by IAS 1 to ensure that users of the financial statements understand the basis on which the information presented in the financial statements has been prepared. These additional disclosures which should be presented include: the measurement basis used in the preparation of the financial statements, judgments that have been made in applying an entity’s accounting policies, and assumptions that an entity has made over the uncertainty of making estimations.

Objectives, Scope and Definitions of IAS 1

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

Underlying assumptions
There are two fundamentally important assumptions on which financial statements are based,
being the accrual basis of accounting and the going concern basis. Both of these are
discussed in IAS 1. However, the fundamental principle of the accrual basis of accounting is
that transactions are recorded in the financial statements when they occur, not when the
related cash flows into or out of the entity occur. [Framework 22]
Under the going concern basis, financial statements are prepared on the assumption that an
entity will continue in operation for the foreseeable future. This basis is important, for
example, in the assessment of the recoverability of a non-current asset, which is expected to
generate benefits in the ongoing business even if its resale value is minimal. [Framework 23]

Underlying Assumptions

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Users of financial information and why the information is of interest to them:
1. Investors
Investors require information on risk and return on investment and hence an entity’s ability to
pay dividends.
2. Employees
Employees assess an entity’s stability and profitability. They are interested in their employer's
ability to provide remuneration, employment opportunities and retirement and other benefits.
3. Lenders
Lenders assess whether an entity is able to repay loans and its ability to pay the related
interest when it falls due.
4. Suppliers and other trade payables
Suppliers assess the likelihood of an entity being able to pay them as amounts fall due.
5. Customers
Customers assess whether an entity will continue in existence. This is especially important
where customers have a long-term involvement with, or are dependent on, an entity, for
example where product warranties exist or where specialist parts may be needed.
6. Governments and their agencies
Government bodies assess the general allocation of resources and therefore activities of
entities. In addition information is needed to determine future taxation policy and to provide
national statistics.
7. The public
The financial statements provide the public with information on trends and recent
developments. This may be of particular importance where an entity makes a substantial
contribution to a local economy by providing employment and using local suppliers.

Users of financial information

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Financial Accounting: Terms & Concepts
By Qaswar Nawaz Warraich
ACCA-Affiliate
03446551266
http://qssacc.blogspot.com





Book- keeping
Book- keeping is the art of recording business transactions in a systematic manner.
Accounting
The art of recording, classifying and summarizing the financial data, in a systematic way.
BRANCHES OF ACCOUNTING
The changing business scenario over the centuries gave rise to specialized branches of accounting which could cater to the changing requirements. The branches of accounting are;
i) Financial accounting;
ii) Cost accounting; and
iii) Management accounting.
Accounting concepts:
The term ‘concept’ is used to denote accounting postulates, i.e., basic assumptions or conditions upon the edifice of which the accounting super-structure is based. The following are the common accounting concepts adopted by many business concerns.
1. Business Entity Concept 2. Money Measurement Concept
3. Going Concern Concept 4. Dual Aspect Concept
5. Periodicity Concept 6. Historical Cost Concept
7. Matching Concept 8. Realization Concept
9. Accrual Concept 10. Objective Evidence Concept
BASES OF ACCOUNTING
There are three bases of accounting in common usage. Any one of the following bases may be used to finalize accounts.
1. Cash basis
2. Accrual or Mercantile basis
3. Mixed or Hybrid basis.
Single Entry: It is incomplete system of recording business transactions. The business organization maintains only cash book and personal accounts of debtors and creditors. So the complete recording of transactions cannot be made and trail balance cannot be prepared.
Double Entry: It this system every business transaction is having a twofold effect of benefits giving and benefit receiving aspects. The recording is made on the basis of both these aspects. Double Entry is an accounting system that records the effects of transactions and other events in at least two accounts with equal debits and credits.
Debit
Entry on the left side of a double-entry bookkeeping system that represents the addition of an asset or expense or the reduction to a liability or revenue.
Account
It is a statement of the various dealings which occur between a customer and the firm.
 It can also be expressed as a clear and concise record of the transaction relating to a person or a firm or a property (or assets) or a liability or an expense or an income.
Capital
It means the amount (in terms of money or assets having money value) which the proprietor has invested in the firm or can claim from the firm. It is also known as owner’s equity or net worth.
Owner’s equity means owner’s claim against the assets.
It will always be equal to assets less liabilities, say:
Capital = Assets - Liabilities.
Liability
A liability is a present obligation of the entity arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow from the entity of resources embodying economic benefits.
It means the amount which the firm owes to outsiders that is, excepting the proprietors.
In the words of Finny and Miller, “Liabilities are debts; they are amounts owed to creditors; thus the claims of those who are not owners are called liabilities”.
In simple terms, debts repayable to outsiders by the business are known as liabilities.
Asset  An asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity.
Revenue  Income from the trading activities of the business. (normally Sales.)
Goods
It is a general term used for the articles in which the business deals; that is,
only those articles which are bought for resale for profit are known as Goods.
Expense
The terms ‘expense’ refers to the amount incurred in the process of earning
revenue. If the benefit of an expenditure is limited to one year, it is treated as an
expense (also know is as revenue expenditure) such as payment of salaries and rent.
Expenditure
Expenditure takes place when an asset or service is acquired. The purchase of
goods is expenditure, where as cost of goods sold is an expense. Similarly, if an asset
is acquired during the year, it is expenditure, if it is consumed during the same year, it
is also an expense of the year.
Purchases
Buying of goods by the trader for selling them to his customers is known as purchases.
Sales
When the goods purchased are sold out, it is known as sales.
Stock
The goods purchased are for selling, if the goods are not sold out fully, a part
of the total goods purchased is kept with the trader unlit it is sold out, it is called stock.
 If there is stock at the end of the accounting year, it is called the closing stock.
This closing stock at the yearend will be the opening stock for the subsequent year.
Opening stock: The stock at the beginning of an accounting period is called opening stock.
Purchases: The total value of goods purchased after deducting purchase returns is debited to trading a/c. Purchases comprise of cash purchases am credit purchases.
Direct expenses: Direct expenses are incurred to make the goods sale able. They include wages, carriage and freight on purchases, import duty, customs duty, clearing and forwarding charges etc.
Sales: It includes both credit and cash sales. Sales returns are reduced from sales and net sales are shown on the credit side of trading account. The sales and returns are extracted from the trial balance.
Closing stock: Closing stock is the value of goods remaining at the end of the accounting period.
Drawings
It is the amount of money or the value of goods which the proprietor takes for his domestic or personal use. It is usually subtracted from capital.
Proprietor
The person who makes the investment and bears all the risks connected with the business is known as proprietor.
Debtor
A person who owes money to the firm mostly on account of credit sales of goods is called a debtor.
For example, when goods are sold to a person on credit that person pays the price in future, he is called a debtor because he owes the amount to the firm.
Creditor
A person to whom money is owed by the firm is called creditor. For example, Madan is a creditor of the firm when goods are purchased on credit from him.
Account Payable
Amount owed to a creditor for delivered goods or completed services.

Account Receivable
Claim against a debtor for an uncollected amount, generally from a completed transaction of sales or services rendered.
Discount
When customers are allowed any type of deduction, in the price of goods by the businessman it is called discount.
When some discount is allowed in prices of goods on the basis of sales of the items, that is termed as trade discount, but when debtors are allowed some discount in prices of the goods for quick payment, that is termed as cash discount or Settlement Discount.

Statement of Financial Position  A statement that shows the financial position of a business at a particular point in time. It records the assets, liabilities and capital of the business.
Income Statement A statement reporting on the financial performance of a business over a period of time. It records the income and expense of the business.


Meaning of Debit and Credit
The term ‘debit’ is supposed to have derived from ‘debit’ and the term ‘credit’ from ‘creditable’.
For convenience ‘Dr’ is used for debit and ‘Cr’ is used for credit.
Recording of transactions require a thorough understanding of the rules of debit and credit relating to accounts. Both debit and credit may represent either increase or decrease, depending upon the nature of account.
Duality Concept:
Every transaction that occurs within a business has two equal and opposite effects on the accounting equation.
Personal Accounts: Accounts recording transactions with a person or group of persons are known as personal accounts. These accounts are necessary, in particular, to record credit transactions. Personal accounts are of the following types:
(a) Natural persons: An account recording transactions with an individual human being is termed as a natural persons’ personal account. eg., Kamal’s account,
Maria’s account. Both males and females are included in it
(b) Artificial or legal persons: An account recording financial transactions with an artificial person created by law or otherwise is termed as an artificial person, personal account, e.g. Firms’ accounts, limited companies’ accounts, educational institutions’ accounts, Co-operative society account.
(c) Groups/Representative personal Accounts: An account indirectly representing a person or persons is known as representative personal account. When accounts are of a similar nature and their number is large, it is better tot group them under one head and open a representative personal accounts. e.g., prepaid insurance, outstanding salaries, rent, wages etc.
When a person starts a business, he is known as proprietor. This proprietor is represented by capital account for all that he invests in business and by drawings accounts for all that which he withdraws from business. So, capital accounts and drawings account are also personal accounts.
The rule for personal accounts is: Debit the receiver
                                                      Credit the giver
Real Accounts
Accounts relating to properties or assets are known as ‘Real Accounts’, A separate account is maintained for each asset e.g., Cash Machinery, Building, etc.,
Real accounts can be further classified into tangible and intangible.
(a) Tangible Real Accounts: These accounts represent assets and properties which can be seen, touched, felt, measured, purchased and sold. e.g. Machinery account Cash account, Furniture account, stock account etc.
(b) Intangible Real Accounts: These accounts represent assets and properties which cannot be seen, touched or felt but they can be measured in terms of money.
e.g., Goodwill accounts, patents account, Trademarks account, Copyrights account, etc.
The rule for Real accounts is: Debit what comes in
                                                 Credit what goes out
Nominal Accounts
Accounts relating to income, revenue, gain expenses and losses are termed as nominal accounts. These accounts are also known as fictitious accounts as they do not represent any tangible asset. A separate account is maintained for each head or expense or loss and gain or income. Wages account, Rent account Commission account, Interest received account are some examples of nominal account
The rule for Nominal accounts is: Debit all expenses and losses
                                                         Credit all incomes and gains
Invoice
While making a sale, the seller prepares a statement giving the particulars such as the quantity, price per unit, the total amount payable, any deductions made and shows the net amount payable by the buyer. Such a statement is called an invoice.
Voucher
A voucher is a written document in support of a transaction.
 It is a proof that a particular transaction has taken place for the value stated in the voucher. Voucher is necessary to audit the accounts.
Solvent
A person who has assets with realizable values which exceeds his liabilities is insolvent.
Insolvent
A person whose liabilities are more than the realizable values of his assets is called an insolvent.
Journal
The journal is a record containing details of non-routine double entry to the ledgers i.e. generally those that don’t arise from other books of original entry.
Ledger Folio: This column is meant to record the reference of the main Book.
SUB-DIVISION OF JOURNAL
When innumerable number of transactions takes place, the journal, as the sole book of the original entry becomes inadequate. Thus, the number and the number and type of journals required are determined by the nature of operations and the volume of transactions in a particular business.
Books of prime entry/ Books of Original entry
The books in which all transactions are initially recorded.

1. Sales Day Book- to record all credit sales.
2. Purchases Day Book- to record all credit purchases.
3. Cash Book- to record all cash transactions of receipts as well as payments.
4. Sales Returns Day Book- to record the return of goods sold to customers on credit.
5. Purchases Returns Day Book- to record the return of goods purchased from suppliers on credit.
6. Bills Receivable Book- to record the details of all the bills received.
7. Bills Payable Book- to record the details of all the bills accepted.
8. Journal Proper-to record all residual transactions which do not find place in any of the aforementioned books of original entry.
LEDGER
Ledger is a main book of account in which various accounts of personal, real and nominal nature, are opened and maintained.
General ledger
It is the central storage system where all accounting transactions are ultimately recorded.
It is, effectively, the accounting equation in real life.
Personal Ledger
It holds individual accounts for each of the business’s credit customers and suppliers.

Kinds of Cash Book: From the above it can be observed that the Cash Book serves as a subsidiary books as well as ledger. Depending upon the nature of business and the type of cash transactions, various types of Cash books are used. They are:
a) Single Column Cash Book
b) Two Column Cash Book or Cash Book with cash and discount columns.
c) Three Columnar Cash Book or Cash Book with cash, bank and discount columns.
d) ‘Bank’ Cash Book or Cash Book with bank and discount columns.
e) Petty Cash Book.
Trail balance is a statement containing the balances of all ledger accounts, as at any given date, arranged in the form of debit and credit columns placed side by side and prepared with the object of checking the arithmetical accuracy of ledger postings.
Total Method
According to this method, debit total and credit total of each account of ledger are recorded in the trail balance.
Balance Method
According to this method, only balance of each account of ledger is recorded in trail balance. Some accounts may have debit balance and the other may have credit balance. All these debit and credit balances are recorded in it. This method is widely used.
Operating expenses: These expenses are incurred to operate the business efficiently. They are incurred in running the organization. Operating expenses include administration, selling, distribution, finance, depreciation and maintenance expenses.
Non operating expenses: These expenses are not directly associate with day to day operations of the business concern. They include loss on sale of assets, extraordinary losses, etc.
Operating incomes: These incomes are incidental to business and earned from usual business carried on by the concern. Examples: discount received, commission earned, interest received etc.
Non operating incomes: These incomes are not related to the business carried on by the firm. Examples are profit on sale of fixed assets, refund of tax etc.


Types of Assets:
Assets are properties of business. They are classified on the basis of their nature. Different types of assets are as under:
(i) Fixed assets: Fixed assets are the assets which are acquired and held permanently and used in the business with the objective of making profits. Land and building, Plant and machinery, Furniture and Fixtures are examples of fixed assets.
(ii) Current assets: The assets of the business in the form of cash, debtors bank balances, bill receivable and stock are called current assets as they can be realized within an operating cycle of one year to discharge liabilities.
(iii) Tangible assets: Tangible assets have definite physical shape or identity and existence; they can be seen, felt and have volume such as land, cash, stock etc.
Thus tangible assets can be both fixed assets and current assets.
(iv) Intangible assets: The assets which have no physical shape which cannot be seen or felt but have value are called intangible assets. Goodwill, patents, trademarks and licenses are examples of intangible assets. They are usually classified under fixed assets.
(v) Fictitious assets: Fictitious assets are not real assets. Past accumulated losses or expenses which are capitalized for the time being, expenses for promotion of organizations (preliminary expenses), discount on issue of shares, debit balance of profit and loss account etc. are the examples of fictitious assets.
(vi) Wasting assets: These assets are also called depleting assets. Assets such as mines, Timber forests, quarries etc. which become exhausted in value by way of excavation of the minerals, cutting of wood etc. are known as wasting assets. Such assets are usually natural resources with physical limitations.
(vii) Contingent assets: Contingent assets are assets, the existence, value possession of which is based on happening or otherwise of specific events. For example, if a business firm has filed a suit for a particular property now in possession of other persons, the firm will get the property if the suit is decided in its favor. Till the suit is decided, it is a contingent asset.
Types of Liabilities
A liability is an amount which a business firm is ‘liable to pay’ legally. All the amounts which are claims by outsiders on the assets of the business are known as liabilities. They are credit balances in the ledger. Liabilities are classified into four categories as given below.
(1) Owner's capital: Capital is the amount contributed by the owners of the business. In addition to initial capital introduced, proprietors may introduce additional capital and withdraw some amounts from business over a period of time. Owner’s capital is also called ‘net worth. Net worth is the total fund of proprietors on a particulars date. It consists of capital, profits and interest on capital subject to reduction of drawings and interest on drawings. In case of limited companies, capital refers to capital subscribed by shareholders. Net worth refers to paid up equity capital plus reserves and profits, minus losses.
(2) Long term Liabilities: Liabilities repayable after specific duration of long period of time are called long term liabilities. They do not become due for payment in the ordinary ‘operating cycle’ of business or within a short period of lime.
Examples are long term loans and debentures. Long term liabilities may be secured or unsecured, though usually they are secured.
(3) Current liabilities: Liabilities which are repayable during the operating cycle of business, usually within a year, are called short term liabilities or current liabilities.
They are paid out of current assets or by the creation of other current liabilities.
 Examples of current liabilities are trade creditors, bills payable, outstanding expenses, bank overdraft, taxes payable and dividends payable.
(4) Contingent liabilities: Contingent liabilities will result into liabilities only if certain events happen.  e.g.  Bills discounted and endorsed which may be dishonored.
Types of Errors in Accounting
Accounting errors can occur in double entry bookkeeping for a number of reasons. Accounting errors are not the same as fraud, errors happen unintentionally, whereas fraud is a deliberate and intentional attempt to falsify the bookkeeping entries.
An accounting error can cause the trial balance not to balance, which is easier to spot, or the error can be such that the trial balance will still balance due to compensating bookkeeping entries, which is more difficult to identify.

Accounting Errors that Affect the Trial Balance

Errors that affect the trial balance are usually a result of a one sided entry in the accounting records or an incorrect addition.
As a temporary measure, to balance the trial balance. the difference in the trial balance is allocated to a suspense account, and a suspense account reconciliation is carried out at a later stage.
For example, suppose the trial balance showed total debits of 84,600 but total credits of 83,400 leaving a difference of 1,200 as shown below.
Suspense Accounts – Trial Balance Difference
Account
Debit
Credit
Trial Balance Totals
84,600
83,400
Difference
1,200
Total
84,600
84,600
To make the trial balance balance a single entry is posted to the accounting ledgers in a suspense account.
Suspense Account Posting
Account
Debit
Credit
Suspense account
1,200
When the accounting error is identified a correcting entry is made. Suppose the difference was an addition error on the rent account, then the correcting entry would be as follows:
Suspense Account Reconciliation Posting
Account
Debit
Credit
Suspense account
1,200
Rent
1,200

Errors Which do not Affect the Trial Balance

Accounting errors that do not affect the trial balance fall into one of six categories as follows:
1.    Error of Principle in Accounting
2.    Errors of Omission in Accounting
3.    Error of Commission
4.    Compensating Error
5.    Error of Original Entry
6.    Complete Reversal of Entries
Error of Principle in Accounting
An error of principle in accounting occurs when the bookkeeping entry is made to the wrong type of account. For example, if a £1,000 sale is credited to the sundry expenses account instead of the sales account, the correcting entry would be as follows:
Accounting Errors – Error of Principle in Accounting Example
Account
Debit
Credit
Sundry expenses
1,000
Sales
1,000
Errors of Omission in Accounting
Errors of omission in accounting occur when a bookkeeping entry has been completely omitted from the accounting records.
If the payment £2,000 to a supplier has been omitted then the correcting entry would be as follows:
Accounting Errors – Errors of Omission in Accounting Example
Account
Debit
Credit
Accounts payable
2,000
Cash
2,000
Error of Commission
An accounting error of commission occurs when an item is entered to the correct type of account but the wrong account. For example is cash received of £3,000 from Customer A is credited to the account of Customer B the correcting entry would be.
Accounting Errors – Error of Commission
Account
Debit
Credit
Accounts receivable – Customer B
3,000
Accounts receivable – Customer A
3,000
Compensating Error
A compensating error occurs when two or more errors cancel each other out. For example, if the fixed assets account is incorrectly totalled and understated by £600, and the rent account is incorrectly totalled and overstated by £600, then the posting to correct the error would be as follows:
Accounting Errors – Compensating Error
Account
Debit
Credit
Fixed assets
600
Rent
600
Error of Original Entry
An error of original entry occurs when an incorrect amount is posted to the correct accounts.
A particular example of an error of original entry is a transposition error where the numbers are not entered in the correct order. For example, if cash paid to a supplier of £2,140 was posted as £2,410 then the correcting entry of £270 would be.
A good indicator for a transposition error is that the difference (in this case 270) is divisible by 9.
Accounting Errors – Error of Original Entry
Account
Debit
Credit
Cash
270
Accounts payable
270
Complete Reversal of Entries
Complete reversal of entries errors occur when the correct amount is posted to the correct accounts but the debits and credits have been reversed. For example if a cash sale is made for £400 and posted incorrectly as follows:
Accounting Errors – Incorrect posting
Account
Debit
Credit
Sales
400
Cash
400
Then to correct the accounting error the original entry must be reversed and the correct entry made, this can be achieved by doubling the original amounts as follows:
Accounting Errors – Complete Reversal of Entries
Account
Debit
Credit
Sales
800
Cash
800
The type of accounting errors that do not affect the trial balance are summarized in the table below.
Summary of Accounting Error Types
Accounting Errors
Description
Error of Principle in Accounting
Correct amount, wrong type of account
Errors of Omission in Accounting
Entry missed from accounting records
Error of Commission
Correct amount and type of account but wrong account
Compensating Error
Two or more errors balance each other out
Error of Original Entry
Correct accounts, wrong amounts
Complete Reversal of Entries
Correct amount and account, entries reversed

1. Business Entity

A business is considered a separate entity from the owner(s) and should be treated separately. Any personal transactions of its owner should not be recorded in the business accounting book, vice versa. Unless the owner’s personal transaction involves adding and/or withdrawing resources from the business.

2. Going Concern

It assumes that an entity will continue to operate indefinitely. In this basis, assets are recorded based on their original cost and not on market value. Assets are assumed to be used for an indefinite period of time and not intended to be sold immediately.

3. Monetary Unit

The business financial transactions recorded and reported should be in monetary unit, such as US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Euro, etc. Thus, any non-financial or non-monetary information that cannot be measured in a monetary unit are not recorded in the accounting books, but instead, a memorandum will be used.

4. Historical Cost

All business resources acquired should be valued and recorded based on the actual cash equivalent or original cost of acquisition, not the prevailing market value or future value. Exception to the rule is when the business is in the process of closure and liquidation.

5. Matching

This principle requires that revenue recorded, in a given accounting period, should have an equivalent expense recorded, in order to show the true profit of the business.

6. Accounting Period

This principle entails a business to complete the whole accounting process of a business over a specific operating time period. It may be monthly, quarterly or annually. For annual accounting period, it may follow a Calendar or Fiscal Year.

7. Conservatism

This principle states that given two options in the valuation of business transactions, the amount recorded should be the lower rather than the higher value.

8. Consistency

This principle ensures consistency in the accounting procedures used by the business entity from one accounting period to the next. It allows fair comparison of financial information between two accounting periods.

9. Materiality

Ideally, business transactions that may affect the decision of a user of financial information are considered important or material, thus, must be reported properly. This principle allows errors or violations of accounting valuation involving immaterial and small amount of recorded business transaction.

10. Objectivity

This principle requires recorded business transactions should have some form of impartial supporting evidence or documentation. Also, it entails that bookkeeping and financial recording should be performed with independence, that’s free of bias and prejudice.

11. Accrual

This principle requires that revenue should be recorded in the period it is earned, regardless of the time the cash is received. The same is true for expense. Expense should be recognized and recorded at the time it is incurred, regardless of the time that cash is paid.
A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, with the payer named on the document.
A promissory note is a legal instrument, in which one party (the maker or issuer) promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms.
Bills of Exchange
A bill of exchange is an unconditional order in writing, addressed by one person to another, signed by the person giving it, requiring the person to whom it is addressed to pay on demand, or at a fixed or determinable future time, a sum certain in money to or to the order of a specified person, or to bearer.
Parties of bill of Exchange
A bill of exchange requires in its inception three parties—the drawer, the drawee, and the payee. The person who draws the bill is called the drawer. He gives the order to pay money to the third party. The party upon whom the bill is drawn is called the drawee. One to whom money is paid is called the payee.






Accounting: Terms and Concepts

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