AccountingQA Latest Questions

Ayushi
AyushiCurious
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  2. AbhishekBatabyal Helpful Pursuing CA, BCOM (HONS)
    This answer was edited.

    Brief Introduction Alternate Minimum Tax or AMT as the name suggests, is an alternate tax that an assessee has to pay, subject to certain conditions, instead of the income tax liability which is computed as per normal provisions of the Income-tax law. Alternate Minimum Tax is levied to impose higherRead more

    Brief Introduction

    Alternate Minimum Tax or AMT as the name suggests, is an alternate tax that an assessee has to pay, subject to certain conditions, instead of the income tax liability which is computed as per normal provisions of the Income-tax law.

    Alternate Minimum Tax is levied to impose higher tax liability on non-corporate assessees who have claimed various profit-link deductions or investment-linked deductions in the relevant previous year.

    My answer is based on the Indian Income law i.e. Income Tax Act, 1961.

    The concept behind Alternate Minimum Tax

    Let’s start our discussion with MAT i.e. Minimum Alternative Tax. It applies to corporate entities or companies.

    Before MAT, it was seen that companies used to declare huge dividends to their shareholders. But when it came to filing income tax returns, they used to claim various profit linked and investment-linked deductions to report very low profits and even losses to arrive at negligible tax or nil tax whereas their financial statements would report huge profits.

    It is true that the government provides such profit linked or investment linked deductions to encourage business and investments, but it also needs a sufficient and regular flow of revenue in the form of tax to fund its expenditure.

    Hence, to prevent misuse of deductions to evade taxes by corporates, government introduce Minimum Alternate Tax to charge such assessees a minimum rate of tax.

    Alternate Minimum Tax is the same as Minimum Alternate Tax in terms of concept.  The provisions related to AMT are given under section 115JC of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

    Scope of AMT as per section 115JC

    Alternate Minimum Tax applies to all non-corporate assessees who claimed have claimed

    • Deduction claimed if any under Chapter VI-A from section 80H to 80RRB except section 80P
    • Exemption under section 10AA
    • Deduction under section 35AD (Investment-linked deduction)

    However, there is a threshold limit for certain non-corporates.

    By non-corporate assessees we mean:

    1. Individual
    2. Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
    3. Firms (partnership firms)
    4. Co-operative societies
    5. Association of Persons (AOP)
    6. Body of Individuals (BOI)
    7. Artificial Juridical Person (AJP)
    8. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

    AMT is applicable to all except

    • Individuals
    • HUF
    • AOP
    • BOP
    • Artificial Juridical Person

    If their total adjusted income does not exceed Rs 20,00,000  in the previous year.

    Therefore, AMT is applicable to all other non-corporate assessees like LLP, firms and cooperative societies irrespective of their total adjusted income.

    Calculation of Alternate Minimum Tax

    The rate of AMT is 18.5% of the adjusted total income. This adjusted total income and the AMT on it is calculated in the following manner:

    The higher of the following becomes the tax liability of the assessee:

    • Alternate Minimum Tax calculated on adjustment income plus surcharges u/s 87A (4% Health and education cess)
    • Income Tax calculated on taxable income (as per normal provisions)

    Numerical example

    Mr X is a businessman who has earned the following income and expenditure in P.Y 2020-2021:  (Amount in Rupees)

    Income from manufacturing business                             25,00,000

    Interest on saving bank account                                               8,000

    Dividend from ABC ltd                                                              10,000

    Insurance premium paid                                                       1,00,000

    Capital expenditure made as per section 35AD               5,00,000

    Mr X  is eligible to claim a profit linked deduction of Rs 6,00,000.

    Also, the depreciation allowed (other than under 35AD) as per Income-tax Act,1961 amounts to Rs. 3,00,000.

    Following is his computation of both AMT and Income tax liability as per normal provisions.

     

     

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Simerpreet
SimerpreetHelpful
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  2. AbhishekBatabyal Helpful Pursuing CA, BCOM (HONS)
    This answer was edited.

    A balance sheet is a financial statement that reports the position or value of assets, liabilities and equity at a particular date, which is usually the closing date of a financial year. Formats of balance sheet A balance sheet may be presented in two formats: T-form or Horizontal format This formatRead more

    A balance sheet is a financial statement that reports the position or value of assets, liabilities and equity at a particular date, which is usually the closing date of a financial year.

    Formats of balance sheet

    A balance sheet may be presented in two formats:

    T-form or Horizontal format

    This format is the same as the format of ledger accounts. There are two columns with the headings ‘Liabilities’ for the left column and ‘Assets’ for the right column and columns adjacent to both columns for amounts. The liabilities and equity (capital) are shown on the liabilities side because they both have credit balance and assets are shown on the asset side. Most of the non-corporates prepare their balance as per this format. The T-form balance sheet looks as given below:

    Vertical format

    The vertical format of the balance sheet is mostly prepared by corporate entities. Here, the liabilities and assets are shown in the same column as compared to two separate columns in the horizontal format. This results in having a longer shape. Hence, it is called a ‘vertical’ balance sheet. Generally, companies prepare their balance sheet as per this format.

    Also, many times, there are two columns for the amount in this format presenting the amount of both the current year and the previous year. This format looks like as given below:

    Grouping and marshalling

    Beside the structure of the balance sheet i.e. horizontal and vertical, the grouping and marshalling of the items inside the balance sheet are also very important.

    Grouping refers to the presenting of similar items under a heading or group. This is done in order to present the balance sheet in a concise manner. This is very important to do. For example, a business can have numerous creditors, but they are all presented under one ‘Creditors’ heading or two or more heading specifying different types of creditors.

    The assets of a business are grouped under the heading such as Plant, Property and equipment, Current assets, Non-current investments etc.

    Marshalling means the arranging of items as per a particular order. We know that a balance sheet consists of many items and to make the statement more useful and easy to comprehend, the items are arranged in one of the following orders:

    • Order of Liquidity: The items which are more liquid i.e which can be easily converted into cash are kept at the top. Like in assets, cash is the most liquid asset and requires no conversion. Then items like current investment, inventories (in case of fast-moving goods) are placed under and so on. At the near bottom, items that require a long time of conversion into cash are placed such as land, plant and machinery.

    In case of liabilities, the items which are due for repayment soon are kept at the top, like bank overdraft etc. The items which are due for repayment after a long time or at the time of winding capital are kept at the bottom, like long term loans and capital funds. Given below is a format of horizontal balance sheet in which the items are marshalled in order of liquidity:

    • Order of permanence: This type of arrangement is just the opposite of the order of liquidity. Here the items which are least liquid are placed at the top and the more liquid items are placed at the bottom. Like in the case of assets, cash appears at the bottom and non-current assets at the top. On the liabilities side, equity and non-current liabilities are at the top while current liabilities are at the bottom. Mostly all balance sheets are marshalled in order of permanence.
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Jasmeet_Sethi
Jasmeet_SethiCurious
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  2. AishwaryaMunot

    Meaning of Working Capital Firstly, let’s understand the meaning of the working capital. Working capital is the factor which demonstrates the liquidity position of the business to carry out day to day operations. It majorly includes cash & bank balances and liquid assets. Managing working capitaRead more

    Meaning of Working Capital

    Firstly, let’s understand the meaning of the working capital. Working capital is the factor which demonstrates the liquidity position of the business to carry out day to day operations. It majorly includes cash & bank balances and liquid assets.

    Managing working capital is a crucial process to maintain short term liquidity and so ultimately resulting into achieving long term objectives efficiently. Working capital can be calculated by deducting business’s current liabilities from current assets.

    To achieve the ideal working capital requirement for any business, it is important to understand various types of working capital and various ways to manage it.

    Coming to Permanent Working Capital, also called as Fixed Working Capital, it is the minimum working capital required or maintained by businesses. Such type of working capital is maintained to take care of regular financial obligations like creditors, inventory, salaries etc.

    Irrespective of scale of operations carried out in business, Permanent Capital is maintained by businesses which can be in form of Net Working Capital.

    There is no specific formula for calculating Fixed Working Capital, it completely depends upon the business’s assets and liabilities. So accordingly, it can be estimated through the balance sheet of the business.

    For calculating Permanent Working Capital, you can follow below steps:

    1. Calculate Net Working Capital for each day for a whole month
    2. Find the smallest value among them
    3. That will be Permanent Working Capital for the month
    4. Follow the above steps for every month
    5. There you have the annual figure for Permanent Working Capital

    The requirement of Permanent Working Capital changes as the business expands. It is crucial to make sure that the working capital level does not fall below the Permanent Working Capital requirement.

    Types of Permanent Working Capital:

    Permanent working capital is further divided into two types:

    1. Regular working capital – This refers to capital required to maintain healthy cashflow for purchases of raw materials, payment of wages etc.
    2. Reserve working capital – This refers to amount which is more than regular working capital to take care of unexpected business expenses due to contingent events.
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Bonnie
BonnieCurious
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  2. GautamSaxena Curious .

    Capitalize in Accounting The term 'capitalized' in accounting means to record an expenditure as an asset on the balance sheet. Capitalization takes place when a business buys an asset that has a useful life. The cost of the relevant asset is then allocated to expense over its useful life i.e charginRead more

    Capitalize in Accounting

    The term ‘capitalized’ in accounting means to record an expenditure as an asset on the balance sheet. Capitalization takes place when a business buys an asset that has a useful life. The cost of the relevant asset is then allocated to expense over its useful life i.e charging depreciation, etc. This means that the relevant expenditure will appear on the balance sheet instead of the income statement. The capitalizing of the expenses is a benefit for the company as the assets bought by them for the long-term are subjected to depreciation and capitalizing expenses can amortize or depreciate the costs. This process is called capitalization.

    In order to capitalize any expense, we’ll have to make sure it meets the criteria stated below.

    The assets exceeding the capitalization limit

    The companies set a capitalization limit, below which the expenses are considered too immaterial to be capitalized. Therefore, the limit is supposed to be followed and considered as it controls the capitalization of the expenses. Generally, the capitalization limit is $1,000.

    The assets have a useful life 

    The companies also seek to generate revenues for a long period of time. Thus, the asset should have a long and useful life at least a year or more. Thereby, the business can record it as an asset and depreciate it over its valuable life.

    Most of the important principles of capitalization in accounting are from the matching principle.

     

    Matching Principle

    The matching principle states that the expenses in the accounting should be recorded when they are incurred and not when the payment is made. This helps the business identify the amounts spent to generate revenue.

    For e.g, the company bought machinery for manufacturing goods with more efficiency. It is supposed to have a useful life for a period of over 10 years. Instead of expensing the entire cost of the machinery, the company will write off (depreciated) the cost of the asset over its useful life i.e 10 years. Therefore, the asset will be written off as it is used and these types of assets are automatically used as capitalized assets.

     

    Benefits of Capitalization

    Capitalization is of course recording expenses as an asset but this indeed has benefits.

    • This reduces the fluctuation of income over time as the fixed assets (long-term) are costly. For the small business owners or the small firms, it’s even greater.
    • The capitalization of expenditures increases the company’s asset balance, without changing the company’s liability balance. This improves the financial ratios like the current ratio.
    •  Small businesses have a provision for tax benefits related to the depreciation of capitalized assets. Section 179 of depreciation allows those business owners to depreciate certain assets quicker than others are allowed.

     

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Bonnie
BonnieCurious
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  2. A_Team (MBA - Finance Student) ISB College
    This answer was edited.

    Here are 10 examples of accounting entries: A company purchases $500 worth of office supplies on credit from a supplier. Office supplies expense account would be debited Accounts payable would be credited   A firm receives $1,000 in cash from a customer for services rendered. In this case, CashRead more

    Here are 10 examples of accounting entries:

    • A company purchases $500 worth of office supplies on credit from a supplier.
      • Office supplies expense account would be debited
      • Accounts payable would be credited

     

    • A firm receives $1,000 in cash from a customer for services rendered. In this case,
      • Cash account would be debited
      • Service revenue account would be credited

     

    • A business pays $250 in salaries to its employees.
      • A debit would be made to the salaries expense account
      • A credit would be made to the cash account

     

    • A business borrows $5,000 from a bank and receives the funds as a loan. The entry would be,
      • A debit to the bank account
      • A credit to the loan payable account

     

    • A company sells $800 worth of inventory to a customer for cash.
      • The entry would be a debit to the cash account
      • A credit to the sales revenue account

     

    • A firm purchases $3,000 worth of equipment on credit from a supplier.
      • The entry would be a debit to the equipment account
      • A credit to the supplier’s account

     

    • A company incurs $500 in advertising expenses for a new marketing campaign (cash).
      • The entry would be a debit to the advertising expense account
      • A credit to the cash account

     

    • A firm collects $1,200 from a customer. The entry would be,
      • A debit to the cash account
      • A credit to the customer’s account

     

    • A business pays $700 in rent for its office space. The entry would be,
      • A debit to the rent expense account
      • A credit to the cash account

     

    • An organization pays off a $2,000 loan to the bank. The entry would be,
      • A debit to the loan payable account
      • A credit the cash account

     

    I also found a long list of example journal entries and a free PDF to download here.

     

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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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Aditi
Aditi
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  2. Mehak
    This answer was edited.

    To understand the accounting treatment of fixed assets under IFRS let us first understand what fixed assets are. What are Fixed Assets? Fixed assets are the assets that are purchased for long-term use by a business and not for resale. Some examples of fixed assets are land, buildings, machinery, furRead more

    To understand the accounting treatment of fixed assets under IFRS let us first understand what fixed assets are.

    What are Fixed Assets?

    Fixed assets are the assets that are purchased for long-term use by a business and not for resale. Some examples of fixed assets are land, buildings, machinery, furniture and fixtures, etc.

    Fixed assets are essential for the smooth operations of the business. It often shows the value of the business. The value of fixed assets usually decreases with time, obsolescence, damage, etc.

    As per IAS-16 Property, Plant and Equipment, an asset is identified as a fixed asset if it satisfies the following conditions:

    • the future economic benefits associated with the asset will probably flow to the entity, and
    • the cost of the asset can be measured reliably.

    What is IFRS?

    IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. It provides a set of standards to be followed globally by all companies to ensure transparency, comparability, and consistency.

    What is the accounting treatment of fixed assets under IFRS?

    Under IFRS, the first step is to measure the value of the fixed assets on cost. The cost of the fixed assets includes the following:

    1. purchase price
    2. any direct cost related to the asset (such as transportation, installation, etc.)
    3. duties/taxes

    After this step, the entity may choose any one of the following two primary methods:

    1. Cost Model: According to this model the value is first recognized on a cost basis. This includes the purchase price and direct costs attributable to the asset. Subsequently, depreciation is calculated on the cost of the asset. Depreciation spreads the cost of an asset over its useful life. Impairment checks are conducted to ensure the asset’s value on the books doesn’t exceed what it’s worth.

    For example, a company bought a piece of machinery for 60,000. 5,000 were spent on its installation. It has a useful life of 10 years. The machinery would be depreciated over its useful life of 10 years based on its cost which is 65,000.

    2. Revaluation model: As per this model, the fixed assets are valued on their fair value, as on the revaluation date. The amount of depreciation and impairment losses is subtracted from the fair value.

    If the value of an asset increases, the gain goes to equity (revaluation surplus) unless it can be set off with a past loss recorded in profit or loss.
    On the other hand, if the value decreases, the loss goes to profit or loss unless it offsets a past surplus in equity.

    For example, a building was purchased for 100,000. On the revaluation date, the fair value of this building was 150,000. Hence, there is a revaluation surplus of 50,000 which shall be credited to the revaluation surplus account.

    Impact on Financial Statements

    Fixed assets are shown on the Assets side of the Balance Sheet.

    Conclusion

    From the above discussion, it may be concluded that:

    • Fixed assets are the assets that are purchased for long-term use by a business and not for resale.
    • Some examples of fixed assets are land, buildings, machinery, furniture and fixtures, etc.
    • IFRS provides a set of standards to be followed globally by all companies to ensure transparency, comparability, and consistency.
    • Under IFRS, the first step is to measure the value of the fixed assets on cost.
    • After this step, the entity may choose any one of the two primary methods which are cost model and the revaluation model.
    • Fixed assets are shown on the Assets side of the Balance Sheet.

     

     

     

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