Why is it important to adopt a consistent basis for the preparation of financial statements? Explain.
Financial statements are drawn to provide information about growth or decline of business activities over a period of time or comparison of the results, i.e. intra-firm (comparison within the same organisation) or inter-firm comparisons (comparison between different firms). Comparisons can be performed only when the accounting policies are uniform and consistent.
According to the Consistency Principle, accounting practices once selected should be continued over a period of time (i.e. years after years) and should not be changed very frequently. These help in a better understanding of the financial statements and thus make comparisons easy. For example, if a firm is following FIFO method for recording stock, and switches over to the weighted average method, then the results of this year cannot be compared to that of the previous years. Although consistency does notprevent change in the accounting policies, but if change in the policies is essential for better presentation and better understanding of the financial results, then the firm must undertake change in its accounting policies and must fully disclose all the relevant information, reasons and effects of those changes in the financial statements.
Complete the following work sheet:
(i) If a firm believes that some of its debtors may ′default′, it should act on this by making sure that all possible losses are recorded in the books. This is an example of the ___________ concept.
(ii) The fact that a business is separate and distinguishable from its owner is best exemplified by the ___________ concept.
(iii) Everything a firm owns, it also owns out to somebody. This co-incidence is explained by the ___________ concept.
(iv) The ___________ concept states that if straight line method of depreciation is used in one year, then it should also be used in the next year.
(v) A firm may hold stock which is heavily in demand. Consequently, the market value of this stock may be increased. Normal accounting procedure is to ignore this because of the ___________.
(vi) If a firm receives an order for goods, it would not be included in the sales figure owing to the ___________.
(vii) The management of a firm is remarkably incompetent, but the firms accountants can not take this into account while preparing book of accounts because of ________ concept.
Discuss the concept-based on the premise do not anticipate profits but provide for all losses.
When should revenue be recognised? Are there exceptions to the general rule?
Fill in the correct word:
1. Recognition of expenses in the same period as associated revenues is called _______________concept.
2. The accounting concept that refers to the tendency of accountants to resolve uncertainty and doubt in favour of understating assets and revenues and overstating liabilities and expenses is known as _______________.
3. Revenue is generally recognised at the point of sale denotes the concept of _______________.
4. The _______________concept requires that the same accounting method should be used from one accounting period to the next.
5. The_______________concept requires that accounting transactions should be free from the bias of accountants and others.
The accounting concepts and accounting standards are generally referred to as the essence of financial accounting. Comment.
Why is it necessary for accountants to assume that business entity will remain a going concern?
What is the money measurement concept? Which one factor can make it difficult to compare the monetary values of one year with the monetary values of another year?
What is matching concept? Why should a business concern follow this concept? Discuss?
The realisation concept determines when goods sent on credit to customers are to be included in the sales figure for the purpose of computing the profit or loss for the accounting period. Which of the following tends to be used in practice to determine when to include a transaction in the sales figure for the period. When the goods have been:
a. dispatched
b. invoiced
c. delivered
d. paid for Give reasons for your answer.
What is the basic accounting equation?
Name any two types of commonly used negotiable instruments.
Why is it necessary to record the adjusting entries in the preparation of final accounts?
State the meaning of incomplete records?
What is ‘Depreciation’?
Briefly state how the cash book is both journal and a ledger.
State the meaning of a trial balance?
State the four basic requirements of a database applications.
Define accounting.
State the different elements of a computer system.
State the need for the preparation of bank reconciliation statement?
Give two examples of errors of principle?
Enumerate informational needs of management.
Distinguish between capital and revenue expenditure and state whether the following statements are items of capital or revenue expenditure :
(a) Expenditure incurred on repairs and whitewashing at the time of purchase of an old building in order to make it usable.
(b) Expenditure incurred to provide one more exit in a cinema hall in compliance with a government order.
(c) Registration fees paid at the time of purchase of a building.
(d) Expenditure incurred in the maintenance of a tea garden which will produce tea after four years.
(e) Depreciation charged on a plant.
(f) The expenditure incurred in erecting a platform on which a machine will be fixed.
(g) Advertising expenditure, the benefits of which will last for four years.
Write the process of preparing ledger from a journal.
Show the treatment of prepaid expenses depreciation, closing stock at the time of preparation of final accounts when:
(a) When given inside the trial balance?
(b) When given outside the trial balance?
A purchase of machine for cash should be debited to:
(i) Cash account
(ii) Machine account
(iii) Purchase account
(iv) None of these
While calculating operating profit, the following are not taken into account.
(i) Normal transactions
(ii) Abnormal items
(iii) Expenses of a purely financial nature
(iv) (ii) & (iii)
(v) (i) & (iii)
“In case of a long term asset, repair and maintenance expenses are expected to rise in later years than in earlier year”. Which method is suitable for charging depreciation if the management does not want to increase burden on profits and loss account on account of depreciation and repair.
Complete the following sentences with appropriate words:
(a) Information in financial reports is based on .....................
(b) Internal users are the ..................... of the business entity.
(c) A ..................... would most likely use an entities financial report to determine whether or not the business entity is eligible for a loan.
(d) The Internet has assisted in decreasing the ..................... in issuing financial reports to users.
(e) ..................... users are groups outside the business entity, who uses the information to make decisions about the business entity.
(f) Information is said to be relevent if it is ......................
(g) The process of accounting starts with ............ and ends with ............
(h) Accounting measures the business transactions in terms of ............ units.
(i) Identified and measured economic events should be recording in ............ order.
Explain the reasons where the balance shown by the bank passbook does not agree with the balance as shown by the bank column of the cash book.