AccountingQA Latest Questions

Jayesh Gupta
Jayesh GuptaCurious
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  2. Vijay Curious M.Com
    This answer was edited.

    Yes, I agree with your statement that accounting information should be comparable. Comparability is one of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. It means that users should be able to compare a company's financial statements across time and across other companies. Comparability oRead more

    Yes, I agree with your statement that accounting information should be comparable.

    Comparability is one of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. It means that users should be able to compare a company’s financial statements across time and across other companies.

    Comparability of financial statements is crucial due to the following reasons:

    1. Intra-Firm Comparison:

    Comparison of financial statements of two or more periods of the same firm is known as an intra-firm comparison.

    Comparability of accounting information enables the users to analyze the financial statements of a business over a period of time. It helps them to monitor whether the firm’s financial performance has improved over time.

    The intra-firm analysis is also known as Time Series Analysis or Trend Analysis.

    To understand intra-firm analysis, I have provided an extract of the balance sheet of ABC Ltd. for two accounting periods.

    2. Inter-Firm Comparison:

    Comparison of financial statements of two or more firms is known as an inter-firm comparison.

    Inter-firm comparison helps in analyzing the financial performance of two or more competing firms in an industry. It enables the firm to know its position in the market in comparison to its competitors.

    Inter-firm comparison is also known as Cross-sectional Analysis.

    I’ve provided the balance sheets of Co. A and Co.B to make an inter-firm comparison.

    Here is a piece of bonus information for you,

    Sector Analysis – it refers to the assessment of economical and financial conditions of a given sector of a company/industry/economy. It involves the analysis of the size, demographic, pricing, competitive, and other economic dimensions of a sector of the company/industry/economy.

    One more important thing to note here is that comparability can only be achieved when the firms are consistent in the accounting principles and standards they adopt. The accounting policies and standards must be consistent across different periods of the same firm and across different firms in an industry.

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Aadil
AadilCurious
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  2. GautamSaxena Curious .
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning of Opening Stock Opening stock is the inventory or stock of goods that are available at the beginning of the new accounting year carried down from the previous year's closing stock which is recorded in the books of accounts. In simple words, Opening stock is the goods/quantity/products thatRead more

    Meaning of Opening Stock

    Opening stock is the inventory or stock of goods that are available at the beginning of the new accounting year carried down from the previous year’s closing stock which is recorded in the books of accounts.

    • In simple words, Opening stock is the goods/quantity/products that are held by a business at the beginning of a new accounting period and it is the closing stock of the preceding year carried down.
    • Similarly, the closing stock is the number of unsold goods that remain with the business at the end of an accounting year and is further carried down to the next year as Opening Stock.

     

    Formula

    There are 3 main formulas used for Opening Stock’s calculation. They are-

    • For manufacturing companies

    Opening Stock = Raw Material Cost + Work in Progress + Finished Goods Cost

    • When only Sales, GP, COGS, and Closing Stock are given

    Opening Stock = Sales – Gross Profit – Cost of Goods Sold + Closing Stock

    • You can use this one when only limited information is provided

    Opening Stock = COGS + Closing Inventory – Purchases

     

    Types of Opening Stock

    There are three types of Opening Stock or we may also say that Opening  Stock consists of these 3 elements. They are-

    • Raw Materials- These are the unprocessed goods held by a business that is yet to be converted into finished goods.
    • Work in Progress- These include the goods that are in process but not converted into finished goods.
    • Finished Goods- These are the goods/products that have completed the manufacturing process but have not yet been sold.

    Opening Stock in Final Accounts

    Opening stock is a part of the Trading Account while preparing the Final Accounts. And this is how it is posted in the Trading A/c.

    Trading A/c (for the year ending…)

     

    Example of Opening Stock

    Example

    IKEA, the biggest Furniture manufacturer collected this data on April 1, 2021,

    Timber – $300,000

    Wood – $30,000

    Nails – $15,000

    Pre-cut Wood – $120,000

    Assembled Furniture – $400,000

    Now, adding them (as said earlier, Opening stock is a combination of these three.)

    Opening Stock (Raw Material + Work in Progress + Finished Goods) = $865,000

    Therefore, that’s how one can calculate Opening Stock.

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Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. GautamSaxena Curious .
    This answer was edited.

    Sundry debtor refers to either a person or an entity that owes money to the business. If someone buys some goods/services from the business and the payment is yet to be received, a group of such individuals or entities is called sundry debtors. Sundry debtors are also referred to as trade receivableRead more

    Sundry debtor refers to either a person or an entity that owes money to the business. If someone buys some goods/services from the business and the payment is yet to be received, a group of such individuals or entities is called sundry debtors. Sundry debtors are also referred to as trade receivables or account receivables.

    The term ‘Sundry’ means various or several, referring to a collection of miscellaneous items combined under one head. Sundry debtors typically arise from core business activities such as sales of goods or services. The business treats them as an asset.

     

    Example

    Suppose you run a business, ABC Ltd. Mr. Y bought goods from you on credit. Therefore, Mr. Y will be recorded as Debtor (current asset) in your books of accounts. Similarly, a collection of such debtors is viewed as sundry debtors from the business’ point of view.

    Journal Entry

    Rules

    As per the golden rules of accounting, we ‘debit the receiver and credit the receiver’. That’s how in this journal entry we’ll be debiting the sundry debtor’s account. Also, ‘debit what comes in and credit what goes out.’ That’s why sales a/c is credited and cash a/c is debited.

    As per the modern rules of accounting, ‘debit the increase in asset and credit the decrease in asset’. That’s why we debit sundry debtors and cash a/c. And credit sales a/c when goods are sold and inventory decreases.

     

    Why debtor is an asset?

    As we know, a debtor refers to a person or entity who owes money to the business which means, the money is to be received by them in the future, making them an asset. On the other hand, creditors are a liability to the firm as we owe them money and it is to be paid by us in the near future, making it an obligation for the firm.

     

    Sundry Debtors in Balance Sheet

    Sundry debtors are shown under the current asset heading on the balance sheet. They are often referred to as account receivables.

     

    Balance Sheet (for the year ending….)

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Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. Akash Kumar AK
    This answer was edited.

    Goodwill In Accounting Aspect, Goodwill refers to an Intangible asset that facilitates a company in making higher profits and is a result of a business’s consistent efforts over the past years which can be the business's prestige, reputation, good name, customer trust, quality service, etc. GoodwillRead more

    Goodwill

    In Accounting Aspect, Goodwill refers to an Intangible asset that facilitates a company in making higher profits and is a result of a business’s consistent efforts over the past years which can be the business’s prestige, reputation, good name, customer trust, quality service, etc.

    Goodwill has no separate existence although the concept of goodwill comes when a company acquires another company with a willingness to pay a higher price over the fair market value of the company’s net asset in simple words the goodwill can be only realized while at the time of sale of a business.

     

    The formula for Goodwill

     

    Types of Goodwill

    there are two types of goodwill.

     

    1. Inherent Goodwill/Self-generated goodwill

    Inherent goodwill is the internally generated goodwill that was created or generated by the business itself. it is generally generated from the good reputation of the business.

    Inherent Goodwill or Self-generated goodwill is generally not shown in the books or never recognized in the books of Accounts and no journal entry for the inherent goodwill is passed.

     

    2. Purchased Goodwill/Acquired Goodwill

    At the time of acquisition of a business by another business, any amount paid over and above the net assets simply refers to the amount of Purchased Goodwill or Acquired goodwill.

    A Journal entry is passed in the case of the Purchase of goodwill.

     

    Type of Account

    generally, Goodwill is considered and recorded as an Intangible asset(long-term asset) due to its physical absence like other long-term assets.

     

    Modern rule of accounting:

    as per the Modern rule of accounting, all Assets or all possessions of a business are comes under the head Asset accounts.

    as Goodwill is treated as an Intangible asset it is an Asset Account.

     

    Journal entry for purchase of goodwill as per Modern rule

    Goodwill A/c Dr. – Amt

    To Cash/Bank A/c – Amt

    (The modern approach of accounting for the Asset account is: “Debit the increase in asset and Credit the decrease in the asset“)

     

    The golden rule of accounting

    As per the golden rule of accounting, all assets or possessions of a business other than those which are related to any person (debtor’s account) are considered Real accounts.

    Such accounts don’t close by the year-end and are carried forward.

    As Goodwill is an Intangible asset it is treated as a Real account as per the golden rule of accounting.

     

    Journal entry for purchase of goodwill as per Golden rule

    Goodwill A/c Dr. – Amt

    To Cash/Bank A/c – Amt

    (The golden rule of accounting for the Real account is: “Debit what comes in and Credit what Goes out“)

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Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. AbhishekBatabyal Helpful Pursuing CA, BCOM (HONS)
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning The term ‘Sundry creditors’ consist of two words:  ‘Sundry’ and ‘creditors’.  The word ‘sundry’ means the items which are not significant enough to be named separately. It also refers to a collection of miscellaneous items. Creditors are the person from whom money is borrowed or goods are puRead more

    Meaning

    The term ‘Sundry creditors’ consist of two words:  ‘Sundry’ and ‘creditors’. 

    The word ‘sundry’ means the items which are not significant enough to be named separately. It also refers to a collection of miscellaneous items.

    Creditors are the person from whom money is borrowed or goods are purchased on credit by a business or a non-business entity. They have to be repaid after a period of time which is usually less than or up to one year.

    By combining the meaning of both words, ’sundry’ and ‘creditor’, the term ‘sundry creditor’ will refer to the collection of insignificant creditors of an entity.

    Back in the days when accounting records were maintained on paper, only the records of those creditors were maintained separately, from whom goods are purchased regularly and in large amounts. 

    But there used to be numerous other creditors with whom the transactions were occasional and insignificant. To reduce the paperwork, records of all such creditors were maintained on a single page or book under the head ‘Sundry Creditors’

    Nowadays, as accounting records are maintained digitally, hence maintaining records of each and every creditor is not a problem. 

    Hence, every creditor whether small or big, is grouped under the head ‘Sundry creditor’ or ‘Trade Creditor’.

     

    Accounting Treatment 

    Sundry creditors are the persons to whom a business owes money. 

    Hence, as per golden rules of accounting, Sundry creditor is a personal account and the golden rule for personal account is, ‘Debit the receiver and credit the giver’ 

    We know sundry creditors are liabilities, hence, as per modern rule of accounting, sundry creditors are credited in case of increase and debited in case of decrease.

    Example, a business purchased goods for Rs. 10,000 from ABC & Co. The journal entry will as follows:

    Here, ABC & Co is the creditor. It is credited as it is a personal account and the creditor has given the goods to the business, hence the giver is credited.

    From point of view of modern rules of accounting, ABC & Co. is a creditor, a liability. On purchase of goods on credit, a liability is created. Hence, ABC & Co A/c is credited.

     

    Balance sheet

    Sundry creditor is a current liability, so it is shown on the liabilities side of a balance sheet. Trade payable and accounts payable mean sundry creditors only.

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AbhishekBatabyal
AbhishekBatabyalHelpful
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  2. Ayushi Curious Pursuing CA
    This answer was edited.

    Meaning A valuation account is a balance sheet account that is paired with another balance sheet account to report the carrying amount of the paired account at a reduced value. The purpose of a valuation account is to reduce the balance of the concerned asset or liability without affecting the mainRead more

    Meaning

    A valuation account is a balance sheet account that is paired with another balance sheet account to report the carrying amount of the paired account at a reduced value.

    The purpose of a valuation account is to reduce the balance of the concerned asset or liability without affecting the main ledger account.  This is a conservative approach to use valuation accounts to present the value of the concerned asset or liability at a reduced value.

    The most common example of a valuation account is the ‘Provision for doubtful debts account’. It appears in the balance sheet as a reduction from the debtors’ accounts. Also when the amount is transferred to this provision, it appears in the statement of profit and loss account. But it doesn’t appear in the debtors’ account ledger.

    Treatment

    A valuation account appears only in the balance sheet. Sometimes, it also appears in the profit and loss account when any amount is transferred to it.

    Valuation accounts are only used in accrual accounting. They cannot be used in cash-based accounting as there is no flow of cash related to valuation accounts.

    They have a balance opposite of their paired accounts i.e. if their paired account is an asset then they will have a credit balance and if it is a liability then they will have a debit balance.

    Other Examples of valuation accounts are as follows:

    1. Provision for doubtful debts (offsets the account receivables or debtors’ account)
    2. Accumulated depreciation (report the assets net of depreciation)
    3. Discount on bonds payable (reduces the reporting balance of bond payable account)
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Anushka Lalwani
Anushka Lalwani
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  2. ShreyaSharma none
    This answer was edited.

    Ledger Folio A ledger folio, in simple words, is a page number of the ledger account where the relevant account appears. The term 'folio' refers to a book, particularly a book with large sheets of paper. In accounting, it's used to maintain ledger accounts. The use of ledger folio is generally seenRead more

    Ledger Folio

    A ledger folio, in simple words, is a page number of the ledger account where the relevant account appears. The term ‘folio’ refers to a book, particularly a book with large sheets of paper. In accounting, it’s used to maintain ledger accounts.

    The use of ledger folio is generally seen in manual accounting, i.e the traditional book and paper accounting as it is a convenient tool used for tracking the relevant ledger account from its journal entry. Whereas, in computer-oriented accounting (or computerized accounting), it’s not really an issue to track your relevant ledger account.

    Ledger folio, abbreviated as ‘L.F.’, is typically seen in journal entries. The ledger folio is written in the journal entries, after the ‘date’ and ‘particulars’ columns. It is really convenient when we’re dealing with and recording a large number of journal entries. As we will be further posting them into ledger accounts, thus, ledger folio comes in as a really useful component of journal entries.

    • The number in the ledger folio may be numeric or alphanumeric.
    • The ledger folio column in the journal has nothing to do with the accounting principles and rules. It’s used by us as per our methods and needs.

     

    Example

    We’ll look at how the ledger folio column is used while recording journal entries.

     

    We can find the relevant ledger accounts on the page numbers of the book as mentioned in the above entries, i.e. the cash and sales account on page – 1 whereas, the purchases and sundry creditors on page – 2 of the relevant ledger book.

     

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

    The term ‘contra’ means opposite or against. In financial accounting, we encounter the term ‘contra’ in: Contra accounts Contra entries The meaning of contra in the above mention terms is also the same as their general meaning. Contra accounts mean the account which is opposite of the account it corRead more

    The term ‘contra’ means opposite or against. In financial accounting, we encounter the term ‘contra’ in:

    • Contra accounts
    • Contra entries

    The meaning of contra in the above mention terms is also the same as their general meaning. Contra accounts mean the account which is opposite of the account it corresponds to.

    Contra entries are entries of the debit and credit aspects related to the same parent account.  Let’s discuss them in detail.

    Contra accounts

    Any account which is created with the purpose of reducing or offsetting the balance of another account is known as a contra account.

    A contra account is just the opposite of the account to which it relates. The most common examples are the sales discount account and sales return account which is the contra account of the sales account.  They are just the opposite of the sales accounts.

    Contra Entries

    Contra entries refer to the entries which show the movement of the amount within the same parent account. Here, the debit and credit entry is posted on the debit and credit side respectively of a single parent account.  Mainly, contra entries are the entries involving cash and bank accounts.

    The following transactions are recorded as contra entries:

    • Cash to Bank transactions: Deposit of cash into the bank account by the entity.
    • Bank to Cash transactions: Withdrawal of cash from the bank.
    • Cash to cash transactions: Transfer of cash to the petty cash account.
    • Bank to Bank transactions: Transfer of amounts from one bank account to other bank accounts of the same entity.

    Contra entries are marked by the letter ‘C’ beside the postings in the ledger. Deposit of cash in to bank will be posted in cashbook as below:

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Radha
Radha
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  2. Manvi Pursuing ACCA
    This answer was edited.

    The principal book of accounting is “Ledger”. It records all types of transactions relating to a real, personal or nominal account. It records transactions relating to an income, expense, asset or a liability. A ledger classifies a transaction which is recorded in journal to their respective accountRead more

    The principal book of accounting is “Ledger”. It records all types of transactions relating to a real, personal or nominal account. It records transactions relating to an income, expense, asset or a liability.

    A ledger classifies a transaction which is recorded in journal to their respective accounts, and in the end calculates a closing balance for the same account. The closing balance is further transferred to the financial statements, and hence ledger is called the books of final entry as it gives true and fair picture of an account.

    Template of Ledger:

     

    For example, ABC Ltd purchased machinery for cash amounting to Rs 1,00,000 on 1st January. This transaction will include a machinery account and a cash account. The amount will be recorded in the respective accounts for that period.

    The reason being ledger is called a principal book of accounting is, it helps a business in preparation of trial balance and financial statements.

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Radha
Radha
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  2. Rahul_Jose Aspiring CA currently doing Bcom

    The term set off in English means to offset something against something else. It thereby refers to reducing the value of an item. In accounting terms, when a debtor can reduce the amount owed to a creditor by cancelling the amount owed by the creditor to the debtor, it is termed as set off. It is coRead more

    The term set off in English means to offset something against something else. It thereby refers to reducing the value of an item. In accounting terms, when a debtor can reduce the amount owed to a creditor by cancelling the amount owed by the creditor to the debtor, it is termed as set off.

    It is commonly used by banks where they seize the amount in a customer’s account to set off the amount of loan unpaid by the customer.

    Types

    There are various types of set-offs as given below:

    • Transaction set-off – This is where a debtor can simply reduce the amount he is owed from the amount he owes to the creditor.
    • Contractual set-off – Sometimes, a debtor agrees to not set off any amount and hence he would have to pay the entire amount to the creditor even if the creditor owed some amount to the debtor.
    • Insolvency set-off – These rules are mandatory and have to be followed under the Insolvency rules 2016.
    • Bankers set-off – Here, the bank sets off the amount of a customer with another account of the customer.

    Example

    Let’s say Divya owes Rs 20,000 to Sherin for the purchase of goods. But, Sherin owed Rs 6,000 to Divya already for use of her Machinery. Therefore, the amount of 6,000 can be set off against the 20,000 owed to Sherin and hence Divya would effectively owe Sherin Rs 14,000.

    This helps in reducing the number of transactions and unnecessary flow of cash.

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