MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI JUNIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION – 2004

EXAMINER’S REPORT
ACCOUNTING

Introduction

The 2004 Fiji Junior Certificate Examination paper was very similar to the past years’
papers, teachers who had used the past years’ papers as one of the revision
resources definitely found the paper to be straight forward and simple.

On behalf of their students all the markers expressed satisfaction with the paper and
commented that it covered all levels of testing within the prescription.

There is still a lot of room for improvement because if students at this level are well
prepared then definitely the students will choose to study accounting at higher levels.
Hence, teachers are reminded that one of the best ways to prepare students for
accounting examinations is by letting them solve as many past years examination
papers as possible during the revision period because accounting is never learnt by
rote learning. These past years examination papers should also form an important
part of teaching resource.

Specific comments for each of the questions are as follows:

Question 1

A Multiple Choice

The average mark scored in this part was 7. Some scored the full 10 marks while
most found question 5, the calculation of VAT, difficult.

The correct answers were:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
B D D D B C D C B A

B Fill in the Blanks

Most of the students were able to score 4 and above marks, instead of ‘not
negotiable. For (i) most wrote ‘stale cheque’. The correct answers were:

(i) Not Negotiable

(ii) Depreciation
(iii) Period Concept
(iv) Speciation
(v) Schedule of Creditors
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Question 2 Accounting Equation and Balance Sheets

There was a remarkable improvement in this section of the question compared to

previous years, especially the ability to show the effects with the plus (+) and minus
(-) signs.

Most of them still found difficulty in handling transactions with triples effects.
Emphasis is required on the usage of words ‘less’ and ‘and’ for discounts.

Correct answers were:

Cash at Debtors Plant & Creditors Loan Capital

Bank Equipment
2004 $ $ $ $ $ $
Jan 1 2 800 + 600 + 4 300 = 400 + 1 000 + 6 300
5 + 70 = + 70
8 - 200 + 600 = + 400
10 - 50 = - 50
15 + 200 - 210 = - 10
19 = + 130 - 130
24 - 50 = - 50
26 - 90 = - 100 + 10
30 - 500 = - 500

B.
This question was similar to that of the 1993 paper. This was intended to be simple
questions on application, but sadly most candidates were not able to make correct
interpretations.

Correct answers were:

(i) Sashi Chand
(ii) $13 500
(iii) $14 500
(iv) $10 000
(v) Balance Sheet
(vi) $41 500
(vii) Capital / Net Worth / Owners’ Equity / Internal Equity / Net Assets
(viii) $3 000
(ix) Land
(x) Inventory
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Question 3 Journals and Ledger Accounts

A

This was very similar to the 2003 paper and it’s sad to note that the students are not
exposed to the real business documents thus could not score above 3 marks.

The correct answers were:

Document Journals
1 Tax Invoice (issued) Sales Journal
2 Receipt (issued) Cash Receipts Journal
3 Tax Invoice (received) Purchases Journal
4 Credit Note (issued) Sales Returns Journal
5 Credit Note (received) Purchases Returns Journal
6 Cheque Butt Cash Payments Journal

B.

This was a simple and straight forward question based on preparation of the books of
first entry that an average form 3 student should have been able to do. Some scripts
had the complete transactions written in the particulars column instead of only writing
the account names. The dollar amounts were written in the cents column. It is noted
regrets that students could not score full marks.

The correct answers were:

(a) General Journal

$ C $ C
July 1 Petty Cash 25 00
Debtors 1 680 00
Stock 3 000 00
Land & Building 10 000 00
Creditors 1 000 00
Bank (overdraft) 450 00
Mortgage 2 000 00
Capital 11 255 00
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(b) (i) Sales Journal

$ C $ C
July 8 Emosi 68 00
28 Patrick 34 00
Sales A/c Cr 102 00

(ii) Purchases Journal

$ C $ C
July 6 Dion Ltd 470 00
20 Prasad & Co 120 00
Purchases a/c Dr 590 00

(iii) Purchases Returns Journal

$ C $ C
July 25 Dion Ltd 10 00
Purchases Returns a/c Cr 10 00

This section of the question was very poorly done. This indicated that students
lacked the understanding of basic rules for ledger posting. Lot of work is required in
this area otherwise students will face difficulty in accounting at higher levels.

The correct answers were:

(i) R Harish
$ C $ C
Aug 1 Balance 75 00 Aug 8 Cash 70 00
5 Sales 155 00 Discount Allowed 5 00
12 Sales Return 15 00
Balance c/d 140 00
230 00 230 00
Balance b/d 140 00
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(ii) P Loren
$ C $ C
Aug 3 Cash 140 00 Aug 1 Balance 150 00
Discount 10 00 18 Purchases 300 00
Received
24 Purchases Return 20 00
Balance c/d 280 00 _____
450 00 450 00
Balance b/d 280 00

Question 4 Final Accounts and Balance Day Adjustments

This was well done except that some students took the stock on 1/4/03 as closing
stock and stock on 31/3/04 as opening stock and some included salaries in the
Trading Account.

The correct Trading Account was:

Trading Account of Paula’s Tyre Centre

For the year ended 31st March 2004
$ C $ C $ C $ C
Stock 1/4/03 4400 00 Sales 12000 00
Purchases 9300 00 - Sales Return - 300 00 11700 00
- Purchase - 700 00 8600 00
Return
Cartage 150 00
Inwards
13150 00
- Stock 31/3/04 -1800 00
Cost of goods 11350 00
sold
Gross Profit 350 00
11700 00 11700 00

B
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Most of the scripts showed Gross Loss on the credit side while Drawings and Custom
Duty were recorded to the Profit and Loss Account.
The correct Profit and Loss Account was:

Profit and Loss Account of P Fong;s Flower Shop

For the year ended 30th June 2004
$ C $ C
Gross Loss 220 00 Rent 1500 00
Delivery Expense 270 00 Discount received 50 00
Wages 240 00 Commission 210 00
Office Expense 180 00
Depreciation – Van 100 00
Discount Allowed 60 00
Bad Debts 30 00
Advertising 120 00
Total Expenses 1220 00
Net Profit 540 00
1760 00 1760 00

C
Compared to previous years this section was fairly well done. Especially the debit
entry was followed by the credit entry. Some found difficulty in closing the Drawing
account and most closed Profit and Loss Account incorrectly.
The correct answers were:
Closing Journal Entries
$ C $ C
Debit Credit
(a) Sales 5 500 00
Trading Account 5 500 00
(b) Capital 500 00
Drawings 500 00
(c) Rent Received 90 00
Profit and Loss Account 400 00
(d) Purchases Returns 90 00
Trading Account / Purchases 90 00
(e) Profit and Loss Account 20 00
Discount Allowed 20 00
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D.

From the examiners point of view this was intended to be a gift question because it
did not require journal entries but only the calculations for the adjusted accounts.
Only a few scripts attained full marks, other marks ranged from 2 to 3.

The correct answers were:

(i) Profit and Loss Account (ii) Balance Sheet

$ C $ C
Wages 750 00 Wages Due 150 00
Bad Debts 110 00 Debtors 1140 00
Deprecation 500 00 Van 5000 00
Commission 320 00 Commission Due 40 00
Insurance 260 00 Insurance Prepaid 1000 00

QUESTION 5 Accounting Sub-systems for Cash and Credit Control

A
This was the most poorly attempted question. It seems that students are not taught
journal entries and ledger accounts relating to the establishment and reimbursement
of petty cash. It seems that students are usually taught the preparation of the petty
cash book.

The correct answers were:

(i) Current Asset

(ii) A record / Proof / evidence of payment made by the petty cashier
(iii) It is uneconomical to write cheques for small amounts

(iv) Cash Payments Journal

Discount Details Bank
$ C $ C $ C
Feb 1 Petty Cash Advance 50 00
29 Postage 7 87
Stationery 4 22
Travelling 6 35
General 6 66 25 10

(i) (a) Petty Cash Advance

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$ C $ C
Feb 1 Cash 50 00

(b) Postage
$ C $ C
Feb 29 Cash 7 87

(c) Stationery
$ C $ C
Feb 29 Cash 4 22

(d) Travelling
$ C $ C
Feb 29 Cash 6 35

(e) General
$ C $ C
Feb 29 Cash 6 66

The average marks scored ranged from 4 to 6. Marks were lost because students did
not know the entries for the dishonoured cheque and the error in the cash payments
journal. The Bank Reconciliation Statement was well attempted but students still
failed to understand when to add the ‘lodgements not credited’ and minus the
‘unpresented cheques’.

The correct answers were:

(a) Bank Account

$ C $ C
Oct 1 Balance b/f 380 00 Oct 31 Payments Journal 473 00
31 Receipts Journal 450 00 Bank Charges 20 00
Deposit- A Kumar 80 00 Rent 50 00
Interest 60 00 S Wati (Dish Chq) 190 00
Error – Chq – 42 9 00
Balance 228 00
970 00 970 00

(b) Bank Reconciliation Statement of M Esala

As at 31st October 2004
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$ C $ C
Cr Balance as per bank statement 77 00
Add Lodgement not credited 330 00
407 00
Less Unpresented Cheque Nos: 116 130 00
120 49 00 179 00
Dr Balance as per bank account 228 00

C
This again reflected the poor knowledge of rules for ledger postings. Very few could
attain full marks. Some posted individual entries of debtors rather then the totals.
Many candidates recorded $790 as cash and on the credit side recorded the
dishonoured cheque.

The correct answer was:

Debtors Control
Debit Credit Balance
$ C $ C $ C
April 1 Balance 800 00
30 Sales 1 700 00 2 500 00
Sales Return 100 00 2 400 00
Cash 190 00 2 210 00
Discount Allowed 10 00 2 200 00
Interest 5 00 2 205 00
Bad Debts 100 00 2 105 00
Bank (Dish Chq) 100 00 2 205 00

Question 6 Issues in Business and Finance in Fiji

Candidates gained marks that ranged from 2½ to 4. Students mostly chose to write
either on (a) or (c). It is important students should be advised to select topics that
they are able to write and explain easily. Teachers are reminded that marks are also
allocated for the introduction and conclusion. A lot of improvement is needed in
answering this type of question.

THE END