Notes For Accounting
Notes For Accounting
MANAGEMENT
[Prime college of business and management]
BRANCHES OF ACCOUNTING
As a result of economic, industrial, and technological developments, different
specialized fields in accounting have emerged. The famous branches or types
of accounting include: financial accounting, managerial accounting, cost
accounting and are briefly discussed below:
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1. Financial accounting: Financial Accounting is based on a systematic method of
recording transactions of any business according to the accounting
principles. It is the original form of the accounting process. The main
purpose of financial accounting is to calculate the profit or loss of a
business during a period and to provide an accurate picture of the financial
position of the business as on a particular date. Financial accounting is
concerned with the preparation of periodic financial reports by using
historical data of a business enterprise.
2. Management accounting: This branch of accounting provides information to
management for better administration of the business. It helps in making
important decisions and controlling of various activities of the business.
The management is able to take decisions efficiently with the help of
various Management Information Systems such as Budgets, Projected
Cash Flow, Variance Analysis reports, Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis reports,
Break-Even-Point calculation, etc.
3. Cost accounting: The cost accounting is concerned with categorizing,
tracing and collecting manufacturing costs of a business enterprise. The
cost data collected so is used by management in planning and control. A
well established cost accounting system is essential for every business
enterprise to have a proper control over costs.
BOOKKEEPING
We often use the terms accounting and bookkeeping interchangeably.
However, bookkeeping is actually just one part of the accounting process which
deals with the recording of the transactions. So let us learn about book-keeping
and its differences with accounting.
Book-Keeping Accounting
Accounting is the task of preparing
The art of recording of all financial financial statements with the help of
transactions supported by valid ledger balances and analyzing and
documents in a particular method interpreting the financial statements and
is called Bookkeeping. also communicating the information to the
users.
Accounting is the second or final stage of
the whole accounting process. In this stage
Bookkeeping is the primary stage financial statements are prepared with a
of the whole accounting process. view to finding out financial results and
In this stage, journalizing, exhibiting financial position and
recording and balancing are communicating the information to the
made. management and other interested parties
after necessary analysis and
interpretation.
Person or persons concerned with The person or persons concerned with the
bookkeeping are called bookkeeper final stage of accounting are called
or bookkeepers. accountant or accountants.
The task of bookkeeping is to The task of an accountant is to prepare,
record the transactions. So, in this present and communicate information. So,
aspect theoretical knowledge is in this aspect knowledge of application is
more important. more important.
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Employees who perform Accountants possess the status of high
bookkeeping tasks are considered officials. That is why in some cases the
as lower category employees in accountants enjoy the status of financial
the organization. advisers or directors.
All primary activities – Preparation of trial balance with the help of
identification, recording arid ledger account balances to prove the
posting of transactions are arithmetical accuracy of the ledger
included in bookkeeping. accounts and preparation of financial
Bookkeeping doesn’t require any Accounting, on the other side, requires
special skills as it is mechanical in special skills due to its analytical and
nature. somewhat complex nature.
Management cannot make Management can make decisions based on
decisions based on bookkeeping. accounting.
Financial statements are not Financial statements are prepared on the
prepared during bookkeeping. basis of records obtained through
bookkeeping.
OBJECTIVES OF ACCOUNTING
1. To keep Systematic Records: The main objective of accounting is to keep a
systematic record of financial transactions which helps the users to
understand the day to day transactions in a systematic manner so as to gain
knowledge about overall business.
2. Ascertain the Financial Position: The accounting also helps the businessman to
know about his financial position. This objective is served by the Balance
Sheet or Position Statement. The Balance Sheet is a statement of assets and
liabilities of the business on a particular date. It serves as a tool for
ascertaining the financial health of the business.
3. Decision Making: Accounting has yet another wider objective of helping the
managers and business owners in decision making. Systematic accounting
will be an essential factor for making business decisions and set realistic
goals for the targets and plans for future growth.
4. To ascertain profit or loss of the business: Business is run to earn profits. Whether
the business earned profit or incurred loss is ascertained by accounting by
preparing Profit & Loss Account or Income Statement. A comparison of
income and expenditure gives either profit or loss.
5. Planning: Organizations need to plan how they intend to allocate their
limited resources (e.g. cash, labor, materials, machinery and equipment)
towards competing needs in the future.
6. Control: One of the key objectives of an accounting system is to place
sufficient internal controls within an organization for the safeguarding of
its valuable resources. Assets of a business (e.g. cash, buildings, inventory,
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etc.) are susceptible to losses arising from theft, fraud, error,
obsolescence, damage and mismanagement. Accounting ensures that
such risks are reduced to an acceptable level by placing various checks
across the organization.
7. Legal: Accounting is a legal requirement for most businesses. Law requires
businesses to maintain an accurate financial record of their transactions
and to report their financial results to shareholders, tax authorities and
regulators.
8. Liquidity: Mismanagement of cash is often the reason for failure in many
businesses. Accounting helps businesses in determining how much
cash and other liquid resources are at its disposal to pay for its financial
commitments. This information is necessary for working capital
management and helps organizations to reduce the risk of bankruptcy
through the timely detection of financial bottlenecks.
9. Protect Business Properties: Accounting provides protection to business
properties from unjustified and unwarranted use. Information about the
above matters helps the proprietor in assuring that the funds of the business
are not necessarily kept idle or underutilized.
LIMITATIONS OF ACCOUNTING
It is well established that accounting, especially financial accounting is of
absolute importance. Whether it is the management of the company or other
external stakeholders, they depend on these financial statements for their
dose of information about a firm’s financial transactions and position.
However, accounting is not a perfect science yet. Let us take a look at
some limitations of accounting.
1. Measurability: One of the biggest limitations of accounting is that it cannot
measure things/events that do not have a monetary value. If a certain
factor, no matter how important, cannot be expressed in money it finds no
place in accounting.
2. No Future Assessment: The financial statements show the financial position of
the firm on the date of preparation. The users of the statement are more
interested in the future of the company in the short term and long term.
However, accounting does not make any such estimates.
3. Historical Costs: Accounting often uses historical costs to measure the values.
This fails to take into consideration factors such as inflation, price changes,
etc. This skews the relevance of such accounting records and information.
4. Accounting Policies: There is no global standard in accounting policies. In
Uganda, we follow the Accounting Standards. Americans follow the GAAP
and then there are the international standards, namely the IFRS. And if a
global company operates in more than one country, there may be confusion.
Not all accounting policies follow the same line of thinking, and conflicts may
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arise due to this. It has long been said that the whole world must agree on
uniform accounting policies but this has not happened yet.
5. Estimates: Sometimes in accounting estimation may be required as it is not
possible to establish exact amounts. But these estimates will depend on the
personal judgment of the accountant. And estimates are
extremely subjective in nature. They are basically a person’s guess of future
events.
6. Verifiability: An audit of the financial statements does not guarantee the
correctness of such statements. The auditor can only assure that the
statements are free from error to the best of his judgment.
7. Errors and Frauds: Accounting is done by humans, so there will always be the
scope of human errors. There is also the fear of possible manipulation of
accounts to cover up a fraud. Since fraud is deliberate, it is that much harder
to spot. This is one of the most dreaded limitations of accounting.
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what they have earned or lost during a particular period of time. On the
basis of this information they decide their future course of actions such as
expansion or contraction of business. They use it for:
Tracking their investment and monitoring their return on investment.
Observing their capital invested and evaluating its upward or downward move.
Keeping an eye on the overall well-being of the business.
3. Employees: Employees who do not have a hand in core management of the
business are considered internal users of accounting information. They are
interested in financial information because their present and future is tied
up with the success or failure of the business. The success and profitability
of business ensures job security, better remuneration, job promotion and
retirement benefits. They use it for:
Checking the overall financial health of the company as it affects their remuneration and job
security.
Examining if the employer is depositing all required funds to the appropriate authorities such as the
provident fund
External users: External users normally use only financial accounting
information. External users are people outside the business entity
(organization) who use accounting information. Examples of external users
are suppliers, banks, customers, investors, potential investors, and tax
authorities. Some external users of accounting information and their
needs are briefly discussed below:
1. Investors: Normally investors provide capital and management runs the
business. The accounting information is used by both actual and potential
investors. Actual investors use this information to know how their funds
are used by the management and what is the expected performance of
business in future in terms of profitability and growth. They use it for:
Checking how the management is utilizing the equity invested in the business
Decisions related to an increase in investment or to divest from the business.
Analyzing their present investment in the business or the overall financial health in case of a
potential investor.
2. Lenders: Lenders are individuals or financial institutions that normally
lend money to businesses and earn interest income on it. They need
accounting information to assess the financial performance and position
and to have a reasonable assurance that the business to whom they are
going to lend money would be able to return the principal amount as well
as pay interest there on. They use it for:
Evaluation of short-term and long-term financial stability of a business.
An insight into the liquidity, profitability, etc. with the help of ratio analysis
Assessment of the creditworthiness with the help of financial ratios and scrutiny of the three main
financial statements in accounting.
3. Suppliers: Suppliers are business individuals or organizations that normally
sell merchandise or raw materials to other businesses on credit. They use
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accounting information to have an idea about the future creditworthiness
of the business and to decide whether or not to continue providing goods
on credit. They use it for:
Inspecting the credibility of their customers by evaluating their repayment ability.
Setting up a credit limit & payment terms with their customers.
4. Government agencies: Government agencies use financial information of
businesses for the purpose of imposing taxes and regulations. They use it for:
To keep a check and ensure that the firm is following all required accounting principles, standards,
rules & regulations.
The ultimate intent is to protect business integrity & safeguard the investors.
Tax department as one of the users of accounting
5. General public: General public also uses accounting information of business
organizations. For example, accounting information is:
A source of education for students of accounting and finance.
A source of valuable data for those researching on organizational impacts on individuals and
economy as a whole.
A source of information for the people looking for job opportunities.
A source of information about the future of a particular enterprise.
6. Customers: Accounting information provides important information to customers
about current position of a business organization and to make a judgment about
its future. Customers can be divided into three group’s manufactures or
producers at various stages of production, wholesalers and retailers and end
users or final consumers. They use it for:
Checking the continuous inflow of stock and the pace of overall production.
Assessing the financial position of its suppliers which is essential to maintain a stable source of
supply.
7. Researchers: The research scholars in their research in accounting theory as
well as business affairs and practices also use accounting data. In addition,
those with indirect concern about business enterprise include financial
analysts and advisors, financial press and reporting, trade associations,
labour unions, consumers, and public at large.
8. Auditors: External auditors examine the financial statements and the
underlying accounting record of businesses in order to form an audit
opinion. Investors and other stakeholders rely on the independent opinion
of external auditors on the accuracy of financial statements.
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This implies the ability for users to be able to compare similar companies
in the same industry group and to make comparisons of performance over
time.
2. Understandability: The presentation of accounting information should be
simple and understandable for the users of the information. It is important
that all the data is clear and concise, it can be easily understood by
everyone including parties who are not from the accounting background.
All relevant explanatory notes should be provided along with the
financial statements. Method of valuation of inventory, method of
depreciation, information on reserves and surplus, contingent liabilities,
and any other extraordinary items. Example of Understandability – It
should be possible for bankers, investors, employees, etc. to understand
financial information of the business.
3. Reliability: One of the most important among qualitative characteristics of
accounting information is reliability of data, i.e. all information provided
must be traceable and verifiable with proper source documents. In
case of an internal or an external audit the information inside financial
statements should be confirmable back to its original source. Failure of an
audit may lead to disbelief in the company’s financial data. Example of
Reliability – An auditor must be able to verify a transaction back to its
origin with the help of invoices, memos, purchase order, sales order, etc.
4. Relevance: Relevance of accounting information means it should help the
user of information with their decision making process. The information
provided should not be irrelevant and unnecessary. All information
should be capable of monetary computation. Example of Relevance – A
firm is expected to provide the total amount owed by the debtors in the
balance sheet, whereas the total number of debtors is not important.
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