Fictitious assets are the expenses and losses which are yet to be written off, so they appear in the Asset side of the balance sheet of the relevant financial year because expenses and losses have a debit balance. They are not assets in substance. Examples: Business loss ( debit balance of Profit anRead more
Fictitious assets are the expenses and losses which are yet to be written off, so they appear in the Asset side of the balance sheet of the relevant financial year because expenses and losses have a debit balance. They are not assets in substance.
Examples:
- Business loss ( debit balance of Profit and loss A/c )*
- Prepaid expenses
- Discount on the issue of debentures.
- Huge promotional expenditure.
*business loss is shown as a negative figure under the head Reserve and Surplus, when the balance sheet is prepared as per Schedule III of The Companies Act, 2013.
Deferred revenue expenditures are the expenses incurred for which the benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise beyond the current year. Such expenses are huge and are not written off completely in a financial year. The part of the expenditure which is not written off is shown on the assets side of the balance sheet.
Examples:
- Huge advertisement expense.
As you can see, there is some similarity between the two. Deferred revenue expenditure can be called a type of fictitious asset as it is shown in the asset side of the balance sheet but it isn’t an asset.

The term ‘fictitious asset’ has a broader meaning than deferred revenue expenditure and also includes the losses such as discounts on the issue of debenture and business loss.
The difference between fictitious assets and deferred revenue expenditure are as follows:
| Fictitious Assets | Deferred Revenue Expenditure | |
| 1 | These are no real assets but expenses and losses that are not completely written off in an F.Y. | These are expenses incurred from which benefits are expected to flow for more than one accounting period. |
| 2 | It has a broader meaning. | It has a narrower meaning. |
| 3 | Examples:- business loss, discount on issue of debentures, prepaid expenses etc. | Examples:- huge promotional expenditure etc. |



Accruals are not the same as provisions both are totally different from each other. Accruals and provision both are vital parts of accounts but work differently Accrual Accrual expense means the transaction that takes place in a particular period must be accounted for in that period only irreRead more
Accruals are not the same as provisions both are totally different from each other. Accruals and provision both are vital parts of accounts but work differently
Accrual
Accrual expense means the transaction that takes place in a particular period must be accounted for in that period only irrespective of the fact when such an amount has been paid.
An accrual of the expenditure which is not paid will be listed in the books of accounts. These accruals can be further divided into two parts
Accrual Expense
Accrual Expense means any transaction that takes place in a particular period but the amount for it will be paid on a later period.
For example- 10,000 for the month of March was paid in April month then this rent will be accounted for in the books in March
These are the following accrued expense
Accrual Revenue
Accrual Revenue means any transaction that takes place in a particular period but the amount for it will be received on later period. For example- If interest of 10,000 on bonds for the period of March is received in April months then this amount will be accounted for in March. These are the following accrued revenue
PROVISIONS
Provision refers to making a provision/allowance against any probable future expense that the company might incur in the near future. This amount is uncertain and difficult to predict its surety.
However, as per the prudence concept of accounting a company needs to anticipate the losses that will incur in the near future due to which provision is made.
For example- A company has debtors of 10,000 but as per the company’s previous records company anticipates that 1% of debtors will become bad debts. So in this case company will make a provision of 1% that is 100 on it.
There are various types of provisions which are-
- Provision on Depreciation– Provision for Depreciation means a provision for future depletion of assets has been already created
- Provision for Doubtful Debts– Provision for Doubtful Debts means a provision created against debtors that doesn’t seem to be recovered in the near future
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