General reserve is the part of profits or money kept aside to meet future uncertainties and obligations of the entity. General reserve is created out of revenue profits for unspecified purposes and therefore is also a part of free reserves. General reserve forms a part of the Profit & Loss ApprRead more
General reserve is the part of profits or money kept aside to meet future uncertainties and obligations of the entity. General reserve is created out of revenue profits for unspecified purposes and therefore is also a part of free reserves.
General reserve forms a part of the Profit & Loss Appropriation account and is created to strengthen the financial position of the entity and serves as a sources of internal financing. It is upon the discretion of the management as to how much of a reserve is to be created. No reserve is created when the entity incurs losses.
General reserve is shown in the Reserves & Surplus head on the liability side of the balance sheet of the entity and carries a credit balance.
Suppose, an entity, ABC Ltd engaged in the business of electronics earns a profit of 85000 in the current financial year and has an existing general reserve amounting to 100000. The management decides to keep aside 20% of its profits as general reserve.
Then the amount to be transferred to general reserve will be = 85000*20% = 17000.
In the financial statements it will be shown as follows-


Now, in the next financial year, the entity incurs losses amounting to 45000. In this case, no amount shall be transferred to the general reserve of the entity and will be shown in the financial statement as follows-

The creation of general reserve can sometimes be deceiving since it does not show the clear picture of the entity and absorbs losses incurred.
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A Cash Flow Statement analyzes the effect of various activities in the company on cash and, that is, it shows the inflow and outflow of cash and cash equivalents. A Fund Flow Statement analyzes the financial position of a company by the inflow and outflow of funds. Both the statements are financialRead more
A Cash Flow Statement analyzes the effect of various activities in the company on cash and, that is, it shows the inflow and outflow of cash and cash equivalents.
A Fund Flow Statement analyzes the financial position of a company by the inflow and outflow of funds.
Both the statements are financial statements and are used to analyze the financial performance of the company of two different reporting periods. Both the statements record the inflow and outflow of cash or funds, as the case may be.
The primary objective of preparing a Cash Flow Statement is to gain an understanding of the changes in the net working capital of the company and to classify the activities in the company under three different heads which helps in better analysis of Financial Statements for management, outsiders, and investors.
The primary objective of preparing a Fund Flow Statement is to track the movements of funds in the company, as the extent of use of long-term and short-term borrowings, frequency of their procurement, its application, etc.
The components of the Cash Flow Statement are:
The components of the Fund Flow Statement are:
Sources of Funds:
Application of Funds:
A sample format of the Cash Flow Statement will be:
A sample format of the Fund Flow Statement will be:
To conclude the difference between Fund Flow and Cash Flow Statement will be:
·      Sources of Funds
·      Application of Funds
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