Accounting Principles & Procedures

Question 1

What would you expect to find in a profit and loss statement?

Answer 1

Revenue, cost and expenses over a period of time

Question 2

What would you expect to find in a balance sheet?

Answer 2

Assets and liabilities at a specific period of time

Question 3

What would you expect to find in a cash flow statement?

Answer 3

A description of how effects on the balance sheet (assets and liabilities) effect available cash or cash equivalents

Question 4

What effect have the IFRS 16 standards had on accounting?

Answer 4

Leases are now considered a liability

Question 5

How has the changes involved in the IFRS 16 standards effected you work?

Answer 5

HMRC DLAS! Find document

Question 6

What is the credit checking process carried out in you organisation?

Answer 6

Company investigation - beneficial owner / Dunn and Bradstreet Report / World Check

Question 7

What are the potential consequences of not carrying out the sufficient due diligence checks on a potential client?

Answer 7

• Money laundering

- Insufficient funds

Question 8

What is the difference between management accounts and company accounts?

Answer 8

Management accounts are a set of accounting date, such as balance sheets and cash flow prepared and presented to a firm management team only. They are used daily for short term decision
Company accounts are where PLC are required to prepare annual accounts for Companies House and HMRC every year. This information is available to the public

Question 9

What would you expect to be included within a set of Company Accounts?

Answer 9

• Chairmen’s statement
• Independent auditors report
• Income statement
• Corporate
• Remuneration report
• Any other statutory requirements (company dependent)

Question 10

What is an Escrow Account?

Answer 10

A bank account with defined condition for the release of funds.
For example, in a dilapidations case, an escrow account was set up by my client, who was the tenant, with the condition of release of monies being the completion of works by the landlord in lieu of dilapidations.

Question 11

What is meant by the term churn rate?

Answer 11

Employee turn over with a period of time

Question 12

What is a Dun & Bradstreet report?

Answer 12

A financial rating/check. Dun & Bradstreet are a leading provider of business info, and one that C&W use as part of their credit checking

Question 13

What is Companies House?

Answer 13

It’s an executive agency that incorporates and dissolves limited companies, registers company info and makes it available to the public.
Recent copy of Modus highlighted a need for Companies House to be provided with greater powers in a bid to help prevent money laundering

Question 14

What is meant by the term insolvency?

Answer 14

An inability to pay debts. When you liabilities exceed your assets

Question 15

What is a sinking fund?

Answer 15

A sinking fund is the process of setting aside revenue to fund future capital expenses or repayment of long term debt.
We were instructed by a student resi company who were managing their estate via sinking fund, who were looking to get a better idea of their actual projected expenditure

Question 16

What is meant by a company have a charitable status?

Answer 16

Not for profit companies can become eligible for charitable status. They must abide by charity law, but they are provided tax relief, gift aid etc.

Question 17

What are capital allowance?

Answer 17

Tax relief on certain items bought for business purposes

Question 18

What is the purpose of Rate Analysis?

Answer 18

Rate analysis is used to evaluate aspects of a companies operating/financial performance over time or compare against a competitor. They are a way of assessing a company’s financial strength

Question 19

What different types of rate analysis are available?

Answer 19

• Liquidity - cash flow/solvency
• Investments/shareholders - info enabling descriptions of extent of risk and potential earnings
• Gearing - info on exposure to loans as opposed to share capital
• Profitability - effectiveness in profit generation
• Financial - rate of stock sale and efficiency of asset list

Question 20

What is the difference between capital expenditure and operation expenditure?

Answer 20

Op Ex is day to day spending, and is noted as an expense. Cap Ex is investment in the future, it is noted as an asset, noted over its life span and diminishes in value over time

Question 21

What is gearing?

Answer 21

Gearing refers to the relationship, or ratio, of a company’s debt-to-equity (D/E). Gearing shows the extent to which a firm’s operations are funded by lenders versus shareholders—in other words, it measures a company’s financial leverage.