Chapter 1 - Introduction to Accounting Flashcards
What is Accounting?
a way of recording, analyzing and summarizing financial data
What is financial data? give examples (3)
the name given to the actual transactions carried out by a business. 1. Sales 2. Purchases 3. Expenses
What happens to transactions?
- Recorded in books of prime entry, 2. Analysed and totals posted in ledger accounts 3. Summarised in financial statements
Q: Accounting only applies to the financial statements produced by a large listed company? A. Yes B. No
B. Accounting is carried out by all businesses, no matter their size or structure.
What are the two types of accounting?
- Financial accounting & 2. Management accounting
Define Financial Accounting (3)
- Method of reporting the results/financial position of a business.
- Not primarily concerned with providing information to improve the business.
- Satisfy information needs and provide a historical record
Define Management Accounting (2)
- Much more detailed than financial accounting
2. Include plans for the future like budgets predicting future revenue/expenditure)
What thing influence the rules around preparing financial statements? (3)
- Company law
- National and international accounting standards
- stock exchange requirements
Define GAAP
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. includes all rules which govern accounting in a country
What governs the form and content of limited liability companies financial reports?
primarily (1) national legislation but also (2) International accounting standards (IAS’s) and (3)international financial reporting standards (IFRSs).
Where do rules outlined in the GAAP standards derive from? (4)
- Local (national) company legislation
- National and international accounting standards
- Statutory requirements in other countries (US)
- Stock exchange requirements.
What are the fundamental qualitative characteristics of useful financial information? (2)
- Relevance
2. Faithful representation
Define Fair presentation
Cant, its a fluid thing. generally: In International Accounting Standards, the requirement for companies not to obfuscate their financial statements so as to mislead shareholders or the wider market.
What is required for fair presentation? (4)
- Compliance with all applicable accounting standards
- Selection and application of appropriate accounting policies
- Presentation of information to provide relevent, comparable, verifiable, timely & understandable info
- Additional disclosure where required
What is the fair presentation override?
When a company can override the fair presentation rules of a company if it means by following the rule the financials will not give a fair presentation
Define the economic (business) entity assumption
a business entity exists separately from its owner(s). Therefore the financials are prepared separate to the owners regardless of legal position.
What does the business entity assumption mean for movement of money between the business and its owner?
Any money paid into the business is owned by the business as a loan from the owner.
Any money out to pay personal items of the owner is not recorded as a purchase but as money taken out of the business by the owner.
Define monetary unit assumption
accounts can only deal with items expressed in monetary terms. Things such as experience and knowledge of the employees is not an asset of the business as no reliable monetary value can be placed on experience
True or false: Experience is counted as an asset to a business
False. cannot be valued reliably therefore cannot be included as an asset
Define time period assumption
Financial statements should be prepared on a regular basis and for a particular period of time which is normally one year
Define going concern
Entity viewed as a going concern when it has neither the intention nor the need to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of its operations.
What are the assumptions of going concern? (2)
- the business will continue to operate fr the next 12 months.
- Assets should not be valued at their break up value.
Define break up value
value of an asset if sold off in say a liquidation situation.
Define carrying value
Value of an asset over time. Carrying value = cost less the accumulated depreciation charged to date.
If the going concern assumption is valid how is an asset/item valued?
it is valued at the carrying value = cost less the accumulated depreciation charged to date
True or false: an asset should be valued at its sracp price after the first 3 years of operation as this is what it would sell for during a valuation therefore that is all its worth.
False if the going concern assumption is valid. True if the going concern assumption is not valid.
A retailer commences business on 1 January and buys inventory of 20 washing machines, each costing
$100. During the year he sells 17 machines at $150 each. How should the remaining machines be
valued at 31 December in the following circumstances?
a. He is forced to close down his business at the end of the year and the remaining machines will
realise only $60 each in a forced sale.
b. He intends to continue his business into the next year.
(a) If the business is to be closed down, the remaining three machines must be valued at the
amount they will realise in a forced sale, i.e. 3 × $60 = $180.
(b) If the business is regarded as a going concern, the inventory unsold at 31 December will be
carried forward into the following year, when the cost of the three machines will be matched
against the eventual sale proceeds in calculating that year’s profits. The three machines will
therefore be valued at cost, 3 × $100 = $300.
What should be disclosed if going concern assumption is not followed? (3)
- The business is not a going concern
- The basis on which the financials have been prepared
- Reasons why the entity is not considered to be a going concern
Define the accruals assumption
revenue earned is matched against the expenditure incurred in earning it.
When are transactions recorded in financial statements?
when the revenues or expenses are earned or incurred. not when the cash is paid or received.
Define Substance over form
The principle that transactions and other events are accounted for and presented in accordance with their substance and economic reality and not merely their legal form
When does substance over form apply? why?
When the transactions are fairly complicated. stops entities distorting their results by follow the letter of the law and being able to hide certain things. present on commercial reality not always legal form of the transaction