Accounting and Finance Lectures Flashcards
What are the three main methods of reporting financial information?
- SFP - Statement of Financial Position [AKA balance sheet in the UK)
- Income Statement (AKA Profit and loss account (P+L)]
- Statement of Cash Flows
All statements are interlinked and present different information.
What is the accounting equation?
Capital = Assets - Liabilities
Rearranged to:
Assets = Capital + Liabilities.
Capital Transactions?
Capital Transactions affect business in the longer term. Capital Expenditure is expenditure on non-current assets.
Revenue Transactions?
Revenue Transactions affect business in current period. Revenue expenditure is expenditure on items consumes in the period. ItT will have no value at the end of the period to wish it relates.
Terms: Relevance?
Accounting information should make a difference, making it capable of influencing decisions. It should help predict future events or help confirm past events.
Terms: Faithful Representation?
Accounting information should represent what it is supposed to represent. It should be complete, as to represent all the information needed in order to understand what is being portrayed. It should be free from error.
Terms: Comparability?
Standards set in place to make comparison between different companies simpler.
Terms: Verifiability?
Provides insurance to users that the accounting information provided faithfully represents what it is supposed to represent. Different accounting specialists should come to the same conclusion that it provides a faithful portrayal.
Terms: Timeliness?
Accounting information should be produced in time for users to make their decisions. The later the financial information is produced, the less useful it becomes.
Terms: Understandability?
Accounting informant should be set out as clearly and concisely as possible. Also, those at whom the information is aimed should understand it.
How does Financial Accounting compare to Managerial Accounting?
They generally share common objectives, but they differ on emphasis in various respects. Finaical accounts tend to be for general purpose, with a broad overview, subject to regulation, annual or bi-annual, almost always historic and have a great emphasis on objectives wit verifiable evidence.
How is financial accounting having to develop?
Has to respond to:
- Increasing sophistication of customers
- Development of global economy
- Rapid technological changes.
- deregulation of domestic markets.
- Increasing pressure from owners (shareholders) for competitive economic returns.
- Increasing volatility of financial markets.
How are Assets split up and what are the definitions of the two respective divisions?
- Non-Current Assets: AKA Fixed assets. Any assets that are held onto for more than a year.
- Current assets: Held onto for less than a year.
Current Assets?
Assets being held for a short term, with the following criteria:
- Held for sale or consumption during the business’s normal operating cycle.
- Expected to be sold within a year within the current statement of financial position.
- Held principally for trading.
- They are cash. or near cash such as easily marketable, short-term investments.
Current Assets?
Assets being held for a short term, with the following criteria:
- Held for sale or consumption during the business’s normal operating cycle.
- Expected to be sold within a year within the current statement of financial position.
- Held principally for trading.
- They are cash, or near cash such as easily marketable, short-term investments.
Non-current assets?
aka fixed assets. All assets that do not meet the definition of current assets. Only tangible assets shown, PPE and financial investmenrs
Equity?
Claims of the owner(s) against the business. It represents the amounts that owners would revive once all assets were sold and all liabilities were settles at their SFP amounts. Equity = Net assets. Sometimes referred to as owner’s capital. Owners capital will be seen as an external finance, with the businesses accounts being completely separate to the owners. When financial statements are prepared, the funds from the owner will be seen as coming from outside the business and will appear as a claim against the business in its statement of financial position.
Liabilities?
Represent the claims of all individuals and organisations, apart from the owners(s). They arise from past transactions or events such as supplying foods or lending money to the business. A liability will be settles through an outflow of assets (usually cash)
Intangible Assets?
For instance, someone who has been invested in for a long time who is owned by a football club. There only value can be judged from what they were purchased for. Another instance would be relationships and connections made within a community over time. This cannot be valued but certainly holds value. It will be realised upon the sale of the underlying asset.
Business entity concept?
The business has a separate entity from the owners(s).
Types of current assets?
- Inventories.
- Trade Receivables/ Debtors.
- Other Recievables.
- Cash and Cash Equivalents.
Types of Capital?
+ Capital introduced.
+ Profit for the year.
- Drawings.
Different types of equity?
- Ordinary share capital.
- Share premium.
- Retained earnings
- Other reserves
What are the limitations of SFP?
- Historic costs vs current costs. (something may have changed, like economic climate or scandal)
- Just a snapshot at one point in time - Revaluations required due to appreciation of assets over time. (Revaluations are required due to the appreciation of assets over time, such as equipment(down) or buildings (up))
- Doesn’t reflect all assets and liabilities and current markets value fo the entity.
Going concern?
Only prepare accounts if you believe your firm is still going to be in business by the time of the next payment.
Layout for Financial Position?
NCA
+ CA
= Total Assets
Non-current liabilities
+ current liabilities
+ equity
= Equity + liabilities
Historic Cost Convention?
Holds that the value of assets shown on the statement of financial position should be based on their historic cost (their acquisition cost). Current value can be used instead, but can be clarified in two different ways.
Current Value: Two different methods?
- Current replacement cost.
- Current realisable value.
Both result in very different outcomes.
Prudence convention?
Holds that caution should be exercised when making accounting judgements. Often involves recording all losses at once and in full; including both actual and expected losses. Profits are only recognised upon realisation.
Therefore, greater emphasis is placed on losses than profits.
Dual aspect convention?
Assets that each transaction had two aspects, both of which will determine the statement of financial postion. So the purchase of a car will result in an increase in one asset (the car) and reduction of another (cash).
Money Measurement Problem: Goodwill and Brands
How to value goodwill and brands - People are willing to pay above the cost
Human resources valuation - Very hard to value the worth of people, except in the case of footballers.
Monetary stability - In inflation times some forms of accounting can be difficult
Money Measurement Problem: Human Resources
E.g. professional footballers.
Money Measurement Problem: Monetary Stability.
Monies value changes over time.
Uses of the SFP?
- Shows how the business is financed and how funds are deployed.
- Can provide a basis for assessing the value of the business.
- Relationships between assets and claims can be assessed.
= Performance and trends can be compared and assessed.
Duality concept and the two columns used in representing this method, with what each one contains.
Double-entry book-keeping used with Debits and Credits.
Debit (DR): Assets, Expenses and drawings.
Credits (CR): Liabilities, income and capital/equity.
Income Statement (profit and loss account) layout?
Revenue/ Sales/ Turnover = X - Cost of sales = (X) = Gross profit X - Sales and Distribution costs (X) - Admin Expeces (X) = Operating Profit X \+ Financial Income X - Financial Expenses (X) = Profit Before tax X - Income Tax (X) = Profit for the Year X
Asset formula (at the end of the period)?
Assets = Equirt (at start of period) + profit (-loss) for the period + liabilities (at the end of the period)
Gross Profit?
All profit in a period minus the costs of the goods, but without anything else taken off.
Operating profit?
Gross Profit - Overheads, the day-to-day expenses of the business, including wages, salaries, rent, stationery, insurance and so on.
Accruals concept?
All income/ expenditure are recognised in the period in which they occurred, not when cash is received or paid. So timing of cash transfer is irrelevant.
Matching Concept?
Costs are matched to revenues in the period in which those revenues were earned.
Realisation Concept?
Profits should not be recognised until earned.
Prudence Concept?
A cautious, but realistic approach should be taken when preparing accounts. Do not overstate assets or understate liabilities.
Prepayments?
Expense paid for in advance of the accounting period to which it relates. Come statement: \+ prepayment at start of the year \+ prepayments made during the year - prepayments at end of year.
SFP:
Prepayments included as current asset.
Accruals?
An expense owing at the end of a financial year for goods/services received but not yet payed for.
Income Statement:
- Accrual at start of the year
+ payments made during the year
+ accruals at the end of the year
= total expense for year in income statement.
SFP
Accruals included as a current liability.
Depreciation?
Spreading the cost of an asset over its useful life.
Application of accruals concept
Straight line method or reducing balance method.
SFP:
Assets valued at net book value.
Reducing balance method of depreciation?
% of NBV
NBV?
Net book value: Cost - accumulated depreciation.
Disposal of non-current assets?
Sale at end of life. Profit on disposal will lead to a reduction in expenses, a loss will lead to an increase in expences.
Will be on accounting adjustment, not a cash transaction.
Bad Debts?
When customers are unwilling or unable to pay their debts.
Treated as an expense on the income statement.
SFP:
Deducted from trade receivables.
Provision for doubtful debts?
Estimate percentage of customers that will not pay debt in addition to existing bad debts.
Application of prudence concept.
Income statement:
Increase on previous year, added to expenses, fall is subtracted from expences.
SFP:
Total deducted from trade receivables.
What are the three types of inventory valuation methods?
FIFO - First in, First out.
LIFO - Last in First out.
AVCO - Weighted average cost.
Trade Receivables problem?
Wen businesses sell goods or services on credit, revenue will usually be recognised before the customer pays the amounts owing. Recording the dual aspect of a credit sale will involve increasing sales revenue and increasing trade receivables by the amount of revenue from the credit sale.
Bad debt is written off by reducing the trade receivables and increasing expenses, by creating an expense known as bad debt. The matching convention means that bad debt must be written off in the period in which the sale took place.
Lecture 6.
Income statement?
Provides information about business performance (profitability) over an accounting period.
SFP?
Provides information on the business’ financial position (assets, liabilities and capital).
What is the statement of cash flows useful for?
A useful indicator of a company’s liquidity and solvency.
FIFO, LIFO and AVCO?
First in first out, last in first out, weighted average cost.