Accounting Principles
Accounting Principles
Professor SP Kothari
Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Example: Shipping Expeditions in the 15th Century Ship sold at the end of a voyage: Finite project life No information flow from time ship left port until it returned Performance: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
Cash Returned
No pre-determined end to a firm's life - going concern Cash invested and generated at multiple points in time Subsequent actions affected by prior results feedback
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Ideally, all the relevant information with respect to a firms performance should be in the quarterly report on a timely basis. Is that the case?
Conservatism does not suggest that financial statements should arbitrarily understate assets and overstate liabilities.
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The Matching Principle for Expenses: Match efforts to the benefits generated Capitalize expenditures that will benefit future periods, expense as benefits are realized Recognize liabilities when efforts benefiting the current period require cash payment in the future Produces a difference between cash flows and earnings
Matching Example
Blockbuster video buys a copy of the Matrix Reloaded video for $20. Experience indicates that video will be rented: Year1 50x Year2 17x
Matching Example
Year1 50x Year2 17x
Estimate:
Matching Example
Estimate: Year1 50x Year2 17x
How much does Blockbuster recognize as an expense each year? 50 ($20) 67 Yearly Expenses $15 17 ($20) 67 $5
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Matching Example
Estimate 2: Year1 50% Year2 25% Year3 25%
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Matching Example
Year1 Estimate 2: 50% Year2 25% Year3 25%
Yearly Expenses
$10
$5
$5
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15
150
16
150
17
150 (15)
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150 (15)
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150 (15) 51
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150 (15) 51
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Components of Income
Sales or Service Revenue (-) Cost of Goods Sold (-) Operating Expenses (-) Unusual or Infrequent items (-) Income Tax Expense = Income from Continuing Operations (ICO) All items disclosed below ICO are referred to as below the line items. The below-the-line items are each shown net of income tax.
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Data source: Staples Corporation. "2002 Annual Report." 5 May 2003, p. C-4.
0,446,100
0,267,209
Investing activities
Acquisition of property & equip Acquisitions of businesses ------Net cash from investing
Financing activities
Proceeds from sale of capital stock Proceeds from borrowings Payments on borrowings ------? Net cash from financing
Net increase/(decrease)
0,201,240
Data source: Staples Corporation. "2002 Annual Report." 5 May 2003, p. C-6.
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Components of Income
Income from Continuing Operations Discontinued Operations
Income or Loss from Discontinued Operations Gain or Loss on Disposal of Discontinued Operations
Extraordinary Items (Unusual and Infrequent) Cumulative Effect of Change in Accounting Principles
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Summary
Key principles underlying financial statement preparation
Objectivity Conservatism Matching Revenue recognition
Income statement
Preparing an income statement from transaction history Presentation Information in components of income
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