Foundation Course - Course Material

PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting SECTION I - TERMS RELATING TO ACCOUNTS Asset The property of the business entity such as land, building, stocks etc. Usually split into current assets, i.e., working capital assets and long-term assets, i.e., fixed assets. Balance Sheet

A summary picture of what the business owns, i.e., assets and what it owes, i.e., liabilities as on a particular date. Usually balance sheet is prepared at the end of one year. However it can be prepared as at the end of every month also.

Break-even point

The level of activity of the business enterprise at which all costs are equal to sales and no profit is made. Profit is generated only if the sales are above this point and below this point loss is made.

Brought down

The term brought down or B/d is written in a ledger account at the time of its opening to indicate that the opening balance in that account has been brought down from the previous period.

Brought forward

The term brought forward B/F is used at the head of a page to indicate that the total amount at the head of that page has been brought forward from the foot of the previous page.

Carried down

The term carried down C/d is written in a ledger account at the time of its closing to indicate that the balance in that account has been carried down to the next period.

Carried forward

The term carried forward or its abbreviation C/f is used at the foot (that is the bottom) of a page to indicate that the total amount at the foot of that page has been carried forward to the head (that is, the top) of the next page.

CapitalNormally means permanent or long-term funds of the business – introduced by the owners of the enterprise and/or borrowed in the form of long-term loans from banks and financial institutions. In the case of a limited company, the owners’ capital is called share capital. The borrowings are called debt capital. Cash flow

This usually means a statement showing all cash inflow, i.e., cash receipts and cash outflow, i.e., cash expenditure. The statement is prepared at least for a period of one month with the objective of monitoring cash flows in the business and managing liquidity.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Contribution

The difference between sales revenue and variable costs incurred to achieve the sales revenue.

Credit To credit an account means increasing the debt owed by us to somebody who has given us loan or supplied goods or services on credit, to record income or to reduce money owed to us by those to whom we have supplied goods or services on credit as and when we receive payment. Creditors

Persons to whom the business enterprise owes money due to goods or services supplied by them or for expenses.

Current asset

Working capital assets which enable a business enterprise to achieve what is known as sales revenue by the process of turn-over of the current assets. Current assets constantly change form from cash back to cash through the activity of the firm, i.e., trading or manufacturing or service.

Current liability

Debt of the business enterprise which is to be settled within a period of 12 months. They are also called short-term liabilities or working capital liabilities, like creditors, accrued expenses etc.

Debt Money owed to external agencies, like loans, creditors etc. This is classified into short-term, medium-term/long-term etc. depending upon the period of repayment as well as the purpose for which it has been incurred. If it is for fixed asset, it is medium to long-term and if it is for working capital, it is short-term. Debit To debit an account means increasing the debt owed by somebody to us for goods or services supplied by us on credit till we receive payment for the same or record expenditure or for reducing the debt owed by us to somebody who has given us a loan or supplied goods or services to us on credit. Debtors

The money that is owned by the business and owed to it by the customers to whom it has sold goods or supplied services on credit basis.

Depreciation

A charge against business income to enable a business enterprise to keep a certain % of the value of a fixed asset every year with a view to replace it at the required time. It is a book or non-cash expense but is recognized as a business expense by the revenue authorities.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Direct costs

Same as variable costs. These costs directly contribute to a specific activity of the enterprise, be it manufacturing, trading etc. They vary with the level of activity.

Dividend

Return to a shareholder in a limited company on its equity investment paid by the company out of its taxed profits every year and is often referred to as profit distributed to share holders.

Drawings

Usually a term used to indicate the amount withdrawn from the capital account or accounts of owner/owners from the firm either in the form of cash or kind. Drawings are debited to the capital accounts of the owners.

Equity Money brought in by the owners in the case of a limited company. It is permanent investment in the company and is paid back to the owners only upon liquidation of the company. Fixed assets

Long-term business assets, like land, building, machinery, vehicles etc. which act as catalysts in the activity of the enterprise but do not form a part of the finished goods of the manufacturing company or stocks in trade in the case of a trading enterprise. They are subject to wear and tear and hence require replacement after some time. Hence, the business enterprise claims depreciation on these assets and charges the amount to its revenue income.

Fixed costs

The costs that do not vary with the level of activity of the enterprise, namely, production or sales in the case of a manufacturing unit. In other words, irrespective of the level of activity, the fixed costs are required to be incurred by the business enterprise. Further only in the short-run, say one or two years, ignoring the effect of inflation, due to which all costs keep increasing, these costs are assumed to be fixed.

Folio

Folio means the page of any book of account.

Gearing

Same as leverage. A measure of external debt in relation to the capital of the owners of the enterprise. The higher the gearing, the greater the risk and vice-versa.

Gross profit

Difference between sales revenue and the cost of making the goods sold ignoring the incidental expenses, like administrative expenses, selling expenses and financial expenses.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Income statement

Same as profit and loss statement. Income statement is common for all types of activities, be they commercial or non-commercial. However, profit and loss statement is only in the case of commercial enterprises.

Indirect costs

Same as overheads or fixed costs. These costs contribute over all to the activity of the enterprise and not to any specific activity. Hence these costs are allocated to the various activities to which they contribute unlike direct costs that are absorbed by the specific activity to which it contributes.

Inventory

Comprises materials, like raw materials, consumables/ machinery spares and packing material, work-in-progress and finished goods. Together with bills receivables, form bulk of current or working capital assets.

Insolvent

A business enterprise is considered insolvent when it is not able to pay its liabilities in full from the proceeds of its assets.

Journal entry

An entry which forms the core of double-entry book keeping, by debiting an account head and crediting another account head for a financial transaction. It is also used for rectifying entries wrongly made earlier, adjustment, transfer from trial balance to profit and loss account and subsequently from profit and loss account to appropriation account and balance sheet.

On account

The term may mean one of the following: (a) Purchase or sale of goods or assets on credit; (b) Receipt of payment of money in part settlement of an existing amount due to be received or paid;

Liability

Amount owed by the business enterprise to outside agencies, which have provided resources either in the form of money, as in the case of bank over draft or goods as in case of creditors or services as in the case of accrued expenses.

Loss

Excess of expenditure over income in a particular accounting period.

Margin of safety

The difference between sales and the break-even point sales. should be as high as possible.

Net current Difference between current assets and current liabilities. This Asset is called as Net working capital. Course Material

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Net fixed assets

Gross fixed assets (purchase price) as diminished by depreciation (cumulative).

Overdraft

A credit facility by which a customer of the bank can draw up to a pre determined limit against some tangible security like inventory or receivables or mortgage.

Over heads

Indirect expenses that cannot be attributed to a specific activity and hence are allocated over a bunch of activities.

Payables

Also known as bills payables or money owed by the enterprise to various creditors.

Posting

Posting is the process of entering in the final book called Ledger the information already recorded in any other subsidiary book, like, sales register, purchases register, cash book, bank book etc. It can also be defined as transfer of entries from subsidiary book to general ledger. This is done periodically, say weekly at the maximum frequency level, or monthly at the minimum frequency level.

Profit Excess of sales revenue over expenditure. Profit and loss Statement

A detailed and consolidated statement of all income and expenditure prepared at the end of a specific period, like month, quarter, halfyear and year. However, the revenue authorities are insistent on yearly statements and the other statements are meant for management purposes.

Purchases

Represent goods purchased for business purposes and are treated as expenditure in the income and expense statement.

Receivables

Also known as sundry debtors or bills receivables or book debts. Represent money owed to the enterprise by debtors.

Reserves or Retained Earnings

Accumulated profits retained in business over a period of time. This is net of profit distributed in the form of dividend.

Returns

Either purchase returns or sales returns representing goods returned on purchases or sales due to defects which stand adjusted either in the amounts due from us or due to us or by replenishment

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting of stocks with quality goods. Purchase return is also called return outward and sales return is also called return inward. Shareholders’ Share capital plus all kinds of reserves representing profit Funds retained in business over a period of time. Solvent

Means that the business enterprise is able to meet its liabilities with all its assets.

Variable costs

Costs that vary with changes in the level of activity be it trading or manufacturing or sales. Mostly direct costs vary.

Voucher

Voucher refers to any written document in support of a financial transaction.

Working capital Gross working capital = Total current assets Net working capital = Total current assets (-) total current liabilities.

*** End of section 1 ***

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting SECTION II – ACCOUNTING PROCESS

Twelve Accounting Principles 1. Money measurement 2. Business entity 3. Going concern 4. Value equals costs 5. Dual aspect 6. ‘Accruals’ or ‘matching’ concept 7. Provisions 8. Time period 9. Realisation 10. Conservatism (Prudence) 11. Consistency 12. Materiality

The dual aspect of Accounting Transactions – Double-entry bookkeeping 1. Sum of assets = Sum of liabilities Total assets = Current assets + Fixed assets + Investments + other deferred revenue expenditure + Goodwill/Business Loss not yet recovered from profits (future profits) Total liabilities = Capital + Reserves + Loans + Expenses not paid for or provisions + Creditors for materials/goods/services 2. What is the dual aspect of accounting transaction? Any accounting transaction affects not one accounting head but two accounting heads. ♦ Example - Creditor outstanding is paid by means of cheque drawn on current account with a bank. The level of creditors comes down due to this payment (liabilities) while the level of bank balance also comes down (assets) ♦ You introduce capital and pay off bank liability with that amount Effect - The capital that has been introduced increases the liability to the owners while the reduction in bank liability reduces bank borrowing to the same extent.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting ♦ You have an outstanding debtor to the extent of Rs. 1 lac. The outstanding bill gets paid and you deposit the cheque in your current account. Effect - The outstanding debtors reduce to nil (asset) and the current account Balance gets increased by Rs.1lac (another asset) ♦ You make payment of a car repairs bill in cash. Effect - Expenditure for the year increases - Expense account is affected Cash account is affected as cash has been given out. ♦ Rent income is received in cash. Effect - Income level goes up for the accounting period & since cash has been received, the cash balance also goes up. Thus in all the examples that we have seen, two account heads invariably get affected. That is why it is called double entry bookkeeping.

Accrual system of accounting Accounting period is of importance for recognising an expense or income. Whether cash has been spent or come in is of no consequence. As a result of this, we have four important account heads in the balance sheet of the company at the end of the accounting period

♦ Expense already met, but a part of it or whole of it pertains to the next accounting period - pre-paid expense

♦ Income already received, but a part of it or whole of it pertains to the next accounting period - income received in advance ♦ An expense pertaining to the current accounting period but not yet met - it has to be booked as an expense during this period. Called by different names, provision, accrued expenses etc. ♦ An income pertaining to the current accounting period but not yet received - it has to be booked as an income during this period. Called accrued income.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting One Practical illustration of Financial Accounting from day to day life The following illustration will serve as a window to accounting. We believe that one can learn almost all about accountancy from this simple illustration from our day-to-day life. It is a case of a small tea stall. Say, our friend Soma starts a tea stall. Soma brings Rs1000 on his own and borrows Rs1000 on the condition that he will have to pay an interest of Rs300 at the end of every month. That's all he can borrow at present. Thus Soma has a total of Rs2000, i.e. total funds available with Soma for employment in business, (accountants call it total capital employed) represented by Rs1000 of his own money (owners' funds same as shareholders funds) and Rs1000 of borrowed money (debt or borrowings). He buys a hot plate, vessels and crockery. These are the assets he will need to make tea everyday (accountants call them fixed assets) for Rs1000. Fixed assets are assets which a businessman uses to manufacture or run his business and does not intend to sell them in the normal course of business. Then he buys material required to make tea viz., milk, sugar, tea powder (stocks or inventory, part of working capital) for Rs500. Cash left with him is Rs500.

On Day 1, he sells 100 cups of tea at Rs5 each. The tradition in the area is that you are paid on the next day. At the end of the day, Soma has not got a single penny from sales but he knows that he will get Rs500 tomorrow (i.e. his receivables or debtors are Rs500). At the end of the day, he is also left with Rs200 worth of stock (sugar, tea leaves etc) that is usable on the next day. Inventory at the end of the day is Rs200. He has hired a helper who would cost him Rs50 per day. The helper's salary will be paid on weekly basis. Besides, he has to pay Rs10 as interest on the loan. The amount payable to helper and interest are payables or more specifically creditor for expenses. You can imagine that in a business, you will have substantial creditors for goods also. Basic Accounting Principles Soma has not received a single penny at the end of day 1, but we know that he generated sales of Rs500 and material cost was only Rs300 (i.e. material purchase of Rs500, net of stock at the end of the day of Rs200). In other words, his gross profit was Rs200. We are taking into account sales and profits despite no money being actually received. This is called the Accrual Principle. Consider material cost on day 1. Logically, we take material cost at Rs300, i.e. raw material net of stock left at the end of the day. In other words, we are trying to match the revenue Course Material

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting of a particular period with cost of that period only. This is called the Matching Principle. Imagine what will happen, if at the end of day 1, Soma has to close his business and sell all his assets. Fixed assets for which he paid Rs1000, may barely realize Rs200 in a distress sale. But in all probability, he will run his business for a long time and even if he sells he will sell as a going concern and not as vessels and crockery. So, should we take this possible loss of Rs800. Obviously not. The reason is that we know and we presume that Soma's business will go on, This is called Going concern Principle. In other words, we presume that the business concern will continue to go on and Soma will not be compelled in distress to sell his fixed assets. If at the end of the day, somebody promises you that he will buy your 200 cups of tea at Rs6 tomorrow. Will you consider that you have already made a profit? A prudent businessman will not. But on the other hand, if you discover that some of your raw material is damaged or not usable on the next day, a prudent businessman would consider that as a loss. This is called the Principle of Conservatism. These are all the core principles based on which accounting is done and a balance sheet is prepared for even the largest company in the world. We will also analyze some balance sheets (of course, it has to be an Indian company!). Balance Sheet Has To Tally Balance sheet is a statement containing the details of where the money has come from and where it has gone. By its very definition, it has to tally. It is like saying that you left home with a 100-rupee note in your pocket, spent some money at various places and came back home. If you have lost some money, you will have to show it as a loss. All expenditures and the balance left in your pocket have to be Rs100 plus any receipts you might have received on the way. We will come back to balance sheet with our Soma's example. Types Of Capital To run any business the money you raise can be your own or somebody else's. Your own money can be money received on inheritance, dowry, earned by your own hard work or as received as gift. The test that you own money is money that you do not have to account for, nor do you have to return it to anybody ever. All that is not your own money would fall under the head - borrowed money. This is the money that belongs to somebody else and will have to be returned and in most cases with some additional charge for use of that money. That charge is called interest cost. Types Of Assets Fixed assets form the productive capacity for any business and are not traded in the course of the business. In our example, hot plate, vessels, crockery form fixed assets whereas milk, tea, sugar, receivables, payables etc form working capital. In working capital, the ones that will get converted into cash are called current assets. The ones that have to Course Material

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting be paid in cash (or kind) are called current liabilities. Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. This is also referred to as “Net Working Capital”. The readers are well advised to get used to different terms relating to the same concept. At times, the term “working capital” could refer to “total current assets” instead of only the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Hence we prefer to use the following terms to refer to these two gross and net phenomena. Gross Working Capital = Total current assets Net Working Capital = Total current assets (-) Current Liabilities To define again, current assets are assets that are expected to be converted into cash in normal business cycle (typically less than a year) and current liabilities are liabilities expected to be paid in cash in normal business cycle (typically less than a year). Fixed assets under normal circumstances are used for a much longer period. Depreciation Obviously, fixed assets also deplete in value and have a life longer than one year but not eternal. So any prudent businessman would understand that he has to recover the value of fixed assets over a period of time. In case of Soma's tea business, let us say life of vessels and crockery is 100 days. Rs1000 worth of fixed assets will need replacement on an average after 100 days. It is as good as incurring a cost of Rs10 per day. Although you pay once in lump sum, it is equivalent of paying a rental of Rs10 per day. When you have bought the assets the rental cost is not to be paid to anybody but it is still to be reduced on a notional basis. This notional cost is called Depreciation. Trial Balance Soma had started his business with Rs1000 and borrowed Rs1000. His activities on the first day have been discussed. The preliminary balance sheet or statement of Soma's business (called trial balance) on day 1 will look as follows. Trial balance is a statement showing balances of sources/ recipients of money. It is a combination of profit and loss account and balance sheet. Item

Dr

Cr

Owner's funds

1000

Borrowed funds

1000

Sales revenue

500

Receivables

500

Raw material stock

200

Raw material expense

300

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Fixed assets

1000

Cash balance

500

Salary

50

Interest

10

Payable for expenses Total

60 2560

2560

Profit & Loss Account Soma's profit and loss account will be the same as your estimate of his profits or loss going by common sense. Let us have a look at it. Sales revenues

500

Raw materials

-300

Salary

-50

Depreciation

-10

Interest

-10

Net profit

130

Balance Sheet The money with which we start business, will increase by the quantum of profit and decrease by the quantum of loss. Therefore in our balance sheet, the sources of total fund available at the end of any period are: Your own money (equity) Plus profits (if any) or Minus losses (if any) Plus other people's money (borrowings) These funds are represented by Fixed assets Plus working capital. Equity capital

1000

Net profit

130

Borrowings

1000

Total capital available

2130

Fixed assets

1000

Less depreciation

10

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Net fixed assets

990

Tea/sugar stock

200

Receivables

500

Payables

-60

Cash balance

500

Total capital used

2130

Cash Flow And Fund Flow For all practical purposes fund flow and cash flow are similar. In case of Soma's tea stall, the business saw a cash inflow of Rs1000 on account of equity, Rs1000 on account of debt, outflow Rs1000 on account of fixed assets, Rs500 on account of working capital and at the end of the day he was left with a balance of Rs500. Cash flow statement is as simple as below: Cash Flow Statement (Rs) Source of cash Owners' funds

1000

Borrowed funds

1000

Total cash raised

2000

Use of cash Material purchased

-500

Fixed assets

-1000

Cash balance

500

Note that in cash flow statement, we do not take sales revenue, depreciation, salary etc because there has been neither cash inflow nor cash outflow in the period under consideration. We may make cash flow in a slightly different manner on the basis of activities. Working capital can be treated as a use of funds and profits as a source. This facilitated financial planning. Cash Flow Statement Operating activities Net profit

130

Depreciation

10

Cash profits

140

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Increase in working capital

-640

Net cash from operating activities

-500

Fixed assets

-1000

Net cash in investing activities

-1000

Equity funds

1000

Debt funds

1000

Net cash from financing activities

2000

Cash balance at the end of the day

500

Importance Of Cash Flow It is important to understand the critical importance of cash flow in any business. Even a profitable business can come to a grinding halt for want to cash just like a heart attack in a healthy body. Let us go back to Soma's tea stall. Soma has no other sources of raising money. Let's presume he starts giving credit for one week, try and figure out what will happen to his business. After 1 or 2 days he will run out of cash and will have to shut down his business till he recovers his money. If he is getting credit from suppliers of milk etc for one day, he will not have cash to pay them on the third day! Even if his tea business is profitable, he will not have enough money to pay his creditors and may face bankruptcy. In case of Soma it may be still possible for him to shut down his tea stall and start his business after a few days. But in case of large businesses, the cost of shutting down the business and embarrassment can be so bad that it may be impossible for the business to restart. Although cash flow statement and cash flow planning is as simple as adding expected receipts and subtracting expected payments. Cash flow statements are generally made on a monthly basis. Problem arises primarily when you factor in some cash receipt that does not fructify. For instance, your receivables do not pay up in time. There will be a cascading effect. First it may affect your business and later it can affect businesses of people to whom you owe. From the planning perspective, it is very important that one understands the probability of each cash receipt and contingency planning. What Are Debits And Credits? Basically accounting requires just common sense. And given its quantity, some smart people long ago set down some rules that everyone can follow. This makes accounting mechanical and therefore one can trace mistakes easily. With computerized accounting, one hardly needs to understand debits, credits in today's world. But we discuss for the sake of completeness (love of author for the basics that he learnt in kindergarten of accounting). Course Material

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting In every business transaction there are two aspects, you get or promise to get something and in return you give or promise to give something. There is no third aspect to any transaction. The former is your Debit and the latter is Credit. Look at every transaction from the perspective of the business. Let us go back to our example For Soma's tea stall, look at all the transactions and debit credit accounting. Soma brings his own Rs1000 in to the business. ♦ What business gets is Cash - Debit ♦ What business promise to give is Owners' funds or Equity - Credit There is an underlying assumption or promise that owners will get back their money. Soma borrows Rs1000 ♦ What business gets is Cash - Debit ♦ What business promises to give is Lenders (debt) - Credit You promise to repay debt. You have to provide for interest cost also Soma buys raw material worth Rs500 ♦ What business gets Raw material - Debit ♦ What business gives is Cash - Credit Soma buys fixed assets worth Rs1000 ♦ What business gets Fixed assets - Debit ♦ What business gives is Cash – Credit Soma sells 100 cups of tea for Rs500 on credit ♦ What promise business gets Receivables (Debit) - Debit ♦ What business gives is Goods (Sales) - Credit Soma hires a helper at Rs50 per day ♦ What business gets Salaries (services) - Debit ♦ What business promises to give is Creditors - Credit You promise to pay salary at later date Raw material consumed Rs300 ♦ What business gets Cost of sales (material used for earning revenue) - Debit ♦ What business promises to give is Raw material - Credit Interest on borrowing Rs10 ♦ What business gets is Interest - Debit (refers to use value of money) ♦ What business promises to give is Lenders (debt) - Credit You promise to pay interest Course Material

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting For depreciation on fixed assets What business gets is Depreciation - Debit (refers to gain from use of fixed assets) What business promises to give is Lenders (debt) - Credit Ledger accounts refer to balances of debits and credits in each account. The debit balances get reduced by credit ones and vice versa. The net balances are tabulated in a statement, which is called Trial Balance (discussed above).

Adjustment Entries At the end of the year, some transactions may have been missed till the time of preparing trial balance. One can pass journal entries (i.e. debit, credit that we saw above), recalculate the ledger balances. Generally, transactions that do not take place in cash may not get left out. For instance, in case of Soma's tea stall, he had a helper costing Rs50 per day. He may forget to account for the same as he has not paid the salary at the end of the first day. But salary cost has been incurred and it has accrued for the business. After preparation of trial balance, you can adjust your account to give effect to the fact that profits are lower by Rs50 and liabilities are higher by Rs50. Such entries are called adjustment entries.

*** End of Section II ***

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting SECTION III - FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS CONCEPTS 1. Cash system of accounting – A system in which an expenditure or income is accounted for only when cash is paid out or received into the system respectively. Income = Receipt of cash and Expenditure = Outgo of cash. There is no concept of period of income or expenditure in this system. In India, small enterprises adopt this method in the initial stages of enterprise. Larger enterprises are forced to settle even substantial Octroi payments through cash only and hence one and all adopt cash system in India for Octroi payment. Not a reliable system of accounting once the enterprise crosses certain stage of growth. 2. Accrual system of accounting – A system in which an expenditure or income is accounted for as soon as it is incurred or accrued respectively. There is a concept of uniform accounting period, which in India is April – March. Most of the enterprises adopt April – March year as the financial year also, as otherwise, as per existing Income Tax Rules, the books of accounts would be required to be closed twice in a year, once in April-March for Income Tax purposes and the second time for their specific financial year ending. The accounting period to which income or expenditure pertains is of paramount importance in this method. The accounting period in which the cash out flow occurs in the case of expenditure or cash inflow occurs in the case of income does not matter at all. Best examples of this system – Accrued income, Accrued expenses, Prepaid expenses and Income received in advance. In India and internationally, most of the business enterprises adopt Accrual System of Accounting once they are established in their respective business. A very reliable system of accounting with the possible shortcoming of paying tax on unreleased profits also. Suppose a sale had been made during 1997-98 for Rs.500 lacs, which was outstanding as at 31/03/98. The realization of the amount has not taken place. However, on the profit accruing to the enterprise on this sale, income tax would have been computed and tax paid accordingly. 3. Difference between cash and fund – Cash means “money” and does not include credit or kind. Fund includes every thing like credit or kind. For example, a supplier supplies materials on credit for which payment is not made immediately. Till the payment is made by us, the supplier has given us money’s worth of goods. Similarly services would also be provided. Thus fund could mean, either “physical cash” or “credit” for supply of goods or services. Hence, at times, the term “fund” also refers to money or money’s worth (OR) cash or kind.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Another example is in case capital is brought into an enterprise in a form, other than cash; say in the form of land or building or machinery or vehicle. This is also fund but would not fall under the category of cash. 4. Components of cash flow statement – Cash management is usually done on the basis of cash inflow and cash outflow. The cash receipts and cash expenditure are reflected in a statement called “cash flow statement”. This statement can be prepared at a predetermined frequency, say every day, every week, every fortnight or every month. Usually it is not prepared at a frequency, which is less than a month. It has revenue receipts, revenue expenditure, capital receipts and capital expenditure unlike profit and loss account, which has only revenue items of income and expenditure. The details of revenue receipts/revenue expenditure and cash receipts/cash expenditure are given in the following points. 5. Medium and long - term liability – Any liability, which is not due within a period of 12 months but due within a period of 5-7 years like debenture or term loan is called a medium-term liability. In case the liability is due beyond 7/10 years like deep discounted bond, then it is called long–term liability. 6. Revenue Receipt – Receipt from operations unlike capital receipt like sale of a capital equipment etc. Usually a period of 12 months is taken as the period in which revenue receipt should occur. 7. Revenue Expenditure – Expenditure for operations unlike capital expenditure like purchase of machinery etc. Usually a period of 12 months is taken as the period in which revenue expenditure should occur. 8. Capital Receipt – Receipt from owner in the form of capital or loans from lenders which need not be repaid within 12 months. Generally all sources, which go in for purchase of capital assets, are called capital receipts. 9. Capital Expenditure – Expenditure towards purchase of capital assets or repayment of an earlier capital receipt. 10. Opportunity cost and opportunity gain – A phenomenon arising out of comparison between returns on alternative investment opportunities available to an investor. For example an investor gets return of 13% p.a. in bank deposits, while he can get 18% in shares, the opportunity cost of investing in bank deposits vis-à-vis the investment in shares is 18% - 13% = 5%. As against this, the investment in shares fetches an opportunity gain of 5% p.a. Thus opportunity cost and gain are relative terms and absolutely dynamic, as the returns even in the case of same investment vary from time to time.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Opportunity cost or gain is a dynamic concept and not static one. Further it is a product of time and holds good only for a short period. It is always determined for a pair of alternative investment opportunities. 11. Pre-tax expenditure and post-tax allocation – All operating expenses like interest, wages salaries etc. are pre-tax expenditure as they are met out of income of an organization and not out of profits. As opposed to this, profits distributed to owners of the company are out of taxed profits and hence they are referred to as post tax allocation. For example, dividend is a post tax allocation. This can be appreciated by keeping in mind three stages of income profit and profit allocation in a business. ⇒ Stage 1 – income from operations and other income like dividend etc. ⇒ Stage 2 – determination of profit for a given period after setting off all the

operating expenditure – pre-tax expenditure, against income for the same period and payment of tax on the same. ⇒ Stage 3 – Distribution of profit after tax (some portion) among the owners of the

company in the form of dividend – post-tax allocation, while keeping the balance portion in the business itself in the form of reserves. 12. Difference between liquidity and profitability – While liquidity means availability of cash to meet all the liabilities, it need not indicate profitability of operations. An enterprise can be liquid because its position of cash is comfortable, i.e., the cash inflow is greater than cash out flow because of owner’s capital as well as other borrowed funds, whereas, its operations need not be profitable, i.e., expenses could be more than income. On the contrary, an enterprise can be profitable but because of delay in realization of sale bills, it could be in cash crisis. Thus liquidity and profitability are two independent phenomena and mostly move in opposite direction. Example - Current Assets. The level of current assets does indicate the level of liquidity available with an enterprise and in case it is too high the profitability does dip in due to the cost of carrying a high level of current assets and vice-versa. 13. Concept of reserves in the case of limited companies – Reserves in the case of limited companies represent profit retained in business since the inception of business. Profit after tax has two components – the distributed component in the form of dividend and the retained component in the form of reserves. While in the case of a partnership firm, the entire profit after tax can be distributed to the partners, in the case of limited companies, a portion of the profit after tax (minimum) has to be set-aside in the form of “General Reserves”, before declaring dividend.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Reserves are of different kinds, but the major bifurcation of reserves is into “free Reserves” and “committed reserves”. Committed reserves represent funds earmarked for specific purposes like redemption of preference share capital, debentures etc. while free reserves can be utilized for any purpose like declaration of dividend in future or issue of bonus shares to existing equity shareholders. Again in the case of partnership firms, the profit retained in business is transferred to capital of the owners at the end of the period, while in the case of limited companies, it is required to be shown separately as “reserves”. Most of us do tend to think that reserves mean funds set aside for specific purposes, whereas they only represent funds earmarked for specific purposes and not kept outside the business. The funds are kept in business only, just as funds brought in by the owners in the form of capital. 14. Importance of depreciation – Depreciation as seen under “Accounting Concepts” is to make a provision out of the income of the enterprise every year to take care of requirement of funds for replacing an old asset as and when it is worn out. Depreciation is an important tool in tax planning, as to the extent of depreciation claimed in business, the profits are less and so is tax. Thus depreciation is necessary for tax planning. Depreciation also provides funds to the enterprise, as there is no cash outlay in this case, unlike other operating expenditure involving cash outlay. Again depreciation fund is not kept in any bank account, but invested in business assets only. Depreciation funds can be used along with internal accruals for repayment of loan installment. 15. Amortization – There are certain expenses incurred in a business enterprise, like patent registration fees, copyright fees, franchise fees, preliminary expenses representing company incorporation expenses, public issue of debt or equity expenses like debenture and share capital etc. These are called deferred revenue expenditure as they are incurred at one point of time and get written off over a period of time against future income, unlike revenue expenditure that gets written off during the year in which it is incurred. Further, these expenses give benefit for a long time to the enterprise but do not generate tangible assets. Hence they are also referred to as “intangible assets”. Such deferred revenue expenditure gets written off through amortization unlike depreciation in the case of fixed assets, which are tangible. The only exception of an intangible asset, which is entitled to depreciation, is “Technical Collaboration Fees” paid to a collaborator, who has provided production technology to us.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting 16. Broad break-up of operating expenditure in a manufacturing unit – ⇒ Expenses relating to production – a) Expenses on material – raw material, packing material, consumable stores and machinery spares; b) Wages paid to workers including employer’s contribution to Provident Fund, bonus, exgratia, uniform and other incidental expenses etc. c) Expenses for manufacturing like depreciation on fixed assets used in factory, repairs and maintenance on fixed assets used in factory, salaries paid to factory personnel, utilities like power, water and fuel etc. ⇒ Expenses relating to administration – General and administrative expenses like

salaries paid to administrative personnel, other administrative expenses, a host of them like printing and stationary etc.

⇒ Expenses relating to sales – Selling expenses, both direct and indirect. ⇒ Finance expenses – Interest, commission, brokerage, discount and others.

Note: In the case of a trading unit, there will be no manufacturing expenses and hence manufacturing expenses would be absent. However, material would be replaced by trading stocks and further, if the trading unit repacks the material before selling in the market, packing expenses would also be incurred and this has to be included. Similarly, in the case of a unit extending services, be it in finance or any other field, the unit will not incur any expenditure on account of materials at all. Hence, in the case of a service unit, the expenses would only be general and administrative expenses, besides selling expenses, if any, and of course, financial expenses towards loans taken etc. 17. Different forms of Business organizations – Sole Proprietorship firm, which is owned by only one person. Very easy to form and no statutory regulation applicable, unlike in the case of partnership firm and limited companies. Depending upon the activity undertaken by the sole proprietor or proprietress, registration or license formality would have to be complied with. For example, commercial enterprise would be required to have license under “The Shops and Establishment Act” from the local governing body. In case it is a manufacturing unit, it requires registration under “The Factories Act” from the concerned State Government. Further, in case the goods manufactured by the unit are excisable, it requires license under “The Excise Act”. Sales Tax Registration

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting would also be required to undertake any sale. The registering authority is the concerned State Government and any inter-state sale would require Central Sales Tax Act registration number. The proprietorship firm does not have any legal entity and is always identified with the sole proprietor. The income of the firm gets added to the income from other sources of the sole proprietor before determining the tax liability of the owner. The income of the firm is separately not taxed. Partnership firm – Two or more persons coming together for the purpose of business can form a partnership firm. The maximum number of partners is 20 in the case of a firm, which does not do banking business and 10 in the case of banking business. The governing statute is “The Partnership Act”. The governing document is “The Partnership Deed”, which is drawn as per the provisions of “The Partnership Act”. A partnership firm has a better legal status than a sole proprietorship firm. However, due to any change in the partnership firm like death of a partner, admission of another partner or retirement of a partner, the firm has to be reconstituted and hence its life is limited, unlike a limited company, which has perpetual succession. The firm requires registration from The Registrar of Firms, which is a state government body. Unless a partnership firm is registered, it cannot file any suit against any other person, body for settlement of disputes. However, any other aggrieved party can haul up an unregistered firm in a court of law. Usually an aggrieved party filing a suit against a partnership firm files a joint case against the partners and the firm. All the partners are liable for the loss of the firm in their individual capacity also besides being partners. This means that their property can be attached by a court of law in settlement of dues of the firm to a creditor and when the assets of the firm are not adequate to meet the liability in full. Thus liability of a partner is “unlimited” and he shares a joint and several liabilities with all the other partners. Advantages – Has better ability to raise resources than a sole proprietorship firm. Not many statutory regulations are applicable in the case of partnership firms unlike in the case of limited companies. Available expertise for running business is much more and risk associated with business is shared among the partners. Disadvantages – Does not have full-fledged legal status. It is a very flexible form of organization and hence disputes are more common among partners. In this connection, please see the point below, on the provisions of partnership deed.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting Although credibility is better than a sole proprietorship firm, it can grow only up to a certain level, beyond which, without converting it into a private limited company, we cannot raise resources, especially debt. Provisions of partnership deed – Should be drawn in accordance with the provisions of The Partnership Act. •

• • • • • • • •

Ratios for sharing the following, among partners – a) Capital, b) Profits, c) Assets of the firm on liquidation of the firm, d) Losses etc. Ratios b, c and d above need not be the same as the ratio a. In case these ratios are not specifically mentioned, then b, c and d follow a. Payment of salary to one or more partners who are working as per the Income Tax Rules in this behalf; Payment of interest on partners’ capital; Receipt of interest on drawings of the partners; Taking loans from the partners with interest payment; Giving loans to partners with interest; Provision relating to the maximum amount of drawings that each partner can make from his capital in a year; Admission of a “minor” partner to the benefits of the partnership firm; Retirement of a partner and admission of a new partner with settlement of capital to the exiting partner in accordance with the “goodwill” formula as provided in the deed.

18. Funds Flow statement – A statement showing the movement of funds during a given period, mostly a year. Herein, fund from operations forms the base, which means that internal accruals (Profit after tax less dividend declared + depreciation and other noncash expenditure) are the starting point for the funds flow statement. Usually funds flow statement is not concerned with revenue receipts and revenue expenditure but is only concerned with changes in position of assets and liabilities during a given period. Note the difference between funds flow statement and cash flow statement. Cash flow statement deals with all cash generated from operations as well as other sources and cash expended for operations as well as other purposes.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting BALANCE SHEET AND PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT STATEMENTS – LINKAGE BETWEEN THEM A sample of “Profit and Loss” Account Income from operations Operating expenses: Salaries Repairs and maintenance Depreciation Office and general expenses Marketing expenses Including Commission Interest and other Charges Total expenses Profit before tax Tax at 35% Profit after tax Dividend Profit retained in Business (Retained earnings)

(Rupees in Lacs) 100 30 3 10 10 7 10 70 30 10.5 19.5 7.5 12.0

Learning Points: ♦ Interest is charged to income before determining the profit of the organisation. Once the profit of the organisation is determined, tax is paid at the stipulated rate and the dividend is paid only after this. Thus, dividend is profit allocation. ♦ This difference between “interest” and “dividend” gives opportunity to business enterprises, to have a mix of capital of the owners and loans taken from outside, so that they can save on tax, through the interest charged as expense on the income. The amount of tax so saved is called “tax shield” on the interest. ♦ In the case of profit distributed among the partners as well in the case of dividend distributed among the shareholders, these are not taxed again in the hands of the owners. Linkage between balance sheet and profit and loss accounts: The above statement is known as the “Profit and Loss Account”. This records the income and expenditure for a given period and is closed as soon as the period is over. The

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting residual profit, as it belongs to the owners, gets transferred to the capital account in another statement, called “Balance Sheet”. The balance sheet tells us about the following: How much money has the business enterprise raised? Which are the sources for the money? What is the use for this money? The balance sheet is also known as “Assets and Liability” statement. A sample balance sheet is shown below - (Rupees in lacs) Liabilities

Assets

Share capital: Reserves: (Retained profits over a period of time) Net worth Bank overdraft Creditors for expenses Other current liabilities Total current liabilities

100 150

Fixed Assets: Less: Depreciation Net Fixed Assets Investments:

60 30 30 80

250 30 10 15 55

Bills Receivable Cash and Bank Other current assets Total current assets

100 35 60 195

Total Liabilities

305

Total Assets

305

Suppose profit for the year is Rs.30 lacs after paying tax and dividend. This would be transferred to the balance sheet and the reserves at the end of the current year would be Rs.150 lacs + Rs.30 lacs = Rs.180 lacs. Similarly the depreciation claimed on the fixed assets and shown as an operating expense would also get transferred to the balance sheet to reduce the value of the fixed assets. Let us assume that there is no increase in the fixed assets during the year that there are no other changes and the depreciation for the year is Rs.10 lacs. We can construct the balance sheet for the next year without much change, excepting to accommodate these figures of depreciation and increase in reserves.

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PICT.SITM – PGDBM – Year 1 – Trimester 1 Foundation Course – Financial Accounting The balance sheet as at the end of the next year would look as under: (Rupees in Lacs) Liabilities

Assets

Share capital Reserves and surplus Net worth Bank overdraft Creditors for expenses Other current liabilities Total current liabilities

100 180

Fixed assets Less: depreciation

280 30 10 15 55

Total liabilities

335

Net fixed assets Investments Bill Receivable Cash and Bank Other current assets Total current assets Total Assets

60 40 20 100 120 35 60 195 335

We see that between the two balance sheets, there are two changes – Investment has gone up by Rs.20 lacs and Bill receivable has gone up by Rs.20 lacs. The total is Rs.40 lacs. Where have these funds come from? This amount is the total of profit transferred to balance sheet from the profit and loss account and depreciation added back, as it does not involve any cash outlay. The figure is Rs.30 lacs + Rs.10 lacs = Rs.40 lacs. This figure is referred to as “internal accruals”. This need not be the case all the times. Where we use these funds entirely depends upon the business priority and what we have shown is only a sample.

Learning Points: ♦ The business enterprise generates funds from operations, known as “internal accruals” comprising depreciation (which is added back, being only a book-entry) and profit after tax and dividend; ♦ Where these funds are used is entirely dependent upon business exigencies; ♦ Depreciation claimed in the books as an expense goes to reduce the value of the fixed assets in the books, while profit after tax and dividend is shown as “Reserves” and increases the net worth of the company. ♦ The above form of balance sheet is the summarised form of balance sheet and not a detailed one

*** End of Section III ***

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