Midterm #1 Flashcards
Why does accounting matter?
- The language of business
- Economic systems depend on reliable and accurate financial reporting
- Records the economic events and communicates to interested users
Two types of users of accounting?
External and internal
What are internal users?
- People who work for or manage for-profit, non-profit or government organizations
- People within the company itself to use financial reporting to make decisions (business opportunities, pricing) and assist them in managing and operating the company
What are external users?
- People who are making financial decisions outside of businesses which companies they should allocate their money to
- They do not have access to accounting information other than what’s already available to the public
What is ethical behaviour?
- Companies have a rules of conduct
- For accounting information to have value, preparers must have high ethical standards (actions must be legal and responsive)
What are the different forms of business organizations?
Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation
What is a proprietorship?
Type of business organization that is owned by one person
What are some true characteristics of a proprietorship?
- Owned by one person
- Easy to set up
- Owner has control over business
- Unlimited liability (responsible for it all)
- Income is included in individual owners tax return (business income is added to personal tax return)
What is a partnership?
Type of business organization owned by 2 or more people
What are some key characteristics of a partnership?
- Somewhat easy to set up
- Formalized in written agreement (how things are going to be shared)
- Each partner has unlimited liability
- Tax on each partner’s personal income tax return
Key characteristics of a corporation?
- Limited liability for shareholders
- One owner or tons of people
- Indefinite life
- May be public or private → depending on whether shares are publicly traded
- The corporation has its own tax return
What are the different types of businesses?
Manufacturing, Merchandising, Service
What is a manufacturing business?
- Uses raw materials, parts, and components to assemble finished goods
- Makes stuff
What is a merchandising business?
- Sells goods to consumers
- Sells stuff
What is a service business?
- Performs tasks for the benefit of its customers
- Does stuff
What are the 3 types of business activities?
Financing, Investing, Operating
What are financing activities?
- Obtaining and repaying funds to finance the operation of the business
- How does a company find money to find their business?
* Ex. Borrowing money or paying loans (debt)
* Ex. Selling or repurchasing shares (equity) - Shares in exchange for cash
What are examples of inflows from financing activities?
Issuing shares, taking out a loan
What are some examples of outflows from financing activities?
Paying dividends, repurchasing shares, repaying loans
What are investing activities?
- Obtaining the resources or assets needed to operate the business for long term
- Buying long term assets that will help your company in the long run
- Ex. Purchase or sale of investments
- Ex. Purchase or sale of long lived assets (property, equipment, intangible assets)
What are some examples of inflows from investing activities?
Proceeds from selling long-lived assets and shares of other companies
What are some examples of outflows from investing activities?
Buying long-lived assets, buying shares of other companies
What are operating activities?
- The main day-to-day activities of the business
- Ex. Revenues (income coming from increase in asset or decrease in liability), expenses
What are some examples of inflows from operating activities?
Revenues, collection of receivables, sale of services or goods
What are some examples of outflows from investing activities?
Expenses, payments of payables, purchase of inventory and supplies
What are dividends?
- Payments that distribute a portion of income to share holders
What is goodwill?
- When a company acquires another company, paying a price that is higher than the value of the purchased company’s net identifiable assets
Why are financial statements important?
- They show you the performance over time
- The business documents that companies use to report the results of their activities to various other groups
What are the four types of financial statements (ASPE)?
Income Statements, Statement of Retained Earnings, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement
What are the four types of financial statements (IFRS)?
Statement of Income, Statement of Changes in Equity, Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Cash Flow
What is a statement of income useful for?
- Report the results of operations for a specific period of time
- Revenue minus expenses
What are revenues?
- They arise from the sale of a product or service from ordinary activities
What are expenses?
- Costs of assets consumed or services used to generate revenues
- Decrease in economic resources
What are gains and losses?
- Extra income or expenses arising from one time (or unusual) events that are not in the regular course of operations
- Ex. Cupcake shop buying real estate
What is the equation for statement of income?
(Revenue + gains) - (expenses - loss) = net income
Why do we use Statement of Changes in Equity?
It shows the changes in each component of shareholders equity for the period
What is the equation for Statement of Changes in Equity (retained earnings)?
Beginning balance of retained earnings (start of the period) +/- net income (revenues-expenses) - dividends = ending balance of retained earnings
What is share capital?
- Amounts contributed by shareholders
- May have common and preferred classes
What is deficit?
More money being spent than earning
What is the equation for Statement of Financial Position? (balance sheet)
Assets = Liabilities + Shareholder’s Equity
What is shareholder’s equity?
Share capital and retained earnings
What is a Statement of Cash Flow useful for?
Report cash receipts and payments for a specific period of time
(They are categorized as operating, financing and investing)
What does GAAP stand for?
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
What is GAAP used for?
- Rules for how financial statements should be prepared
Publicly-traded corporations use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Private corporations may use IFRS or Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE)
What does the financial reporting framework look like?
Level 1 - Objectives of financial reporting (the why)
Level 2 - Qualitative Characteristics of accounting information
Elements of financial statements
Level 3 - Foundational Principles and Conventions (the how)
Why is a conceptual framework useful?
- Aids in creation of standards for the accounting profession
- Increases financial statement users’ understanding of and confidence in financial reporting
- Enhances comparability of financial statements of different companies
- Foundation for solving new emerging problems more quickly
What is conservatism?
The principle that net assets and net income should not be overstated
What is prudence?
Using caution when exercising judgment to make estimates in case of uncertainty