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

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