Basics of Accounting
Basics of Accounting
Lesson Objectives
Financial Statements
Introduction
to decision makers in the form of financial statements. Financial statements will be useful to
Suppliers
Customers
Employees
Banks
Lenders
Owners
Types of Accounts
Real Accounts
Personal Accounts
Nominal Accounts
Real Accounts
Real Accounts are Accounts relating to properties and assets, which are owned by the business Real accounts,
include tangible and intangible accounts. For example,
Land
Building
Goodwill
Purchases
Cash
Personal Accounts
Personal Accounts are Accounts, which relate to persons. Personal Accounts include the following.
Suppliers
Customers
Lenders
Nominal accounts
Nominal Accounts are Accounts which relate to incomes and expenses and gains and losses of a
Salary Account
Dividend Account
Sales
Assets
Liabilities
Income
Expenses
The above classification is the basis for generating various financial statements viz., Balance
Sheet, Profit & Loss A/c and other MIS reports. The Assets and liabilities are taken to Balance
sheet and the Income and Expenses accounts are posted to Profit and Loss Account.
The Accounting Principles, concepts and conventions form the basis for how business transactions
are recorded. A number of principles, concepts and conventions are developed to ensure
that accounting information is presented accurately and consistently. Some of these concepts are
According to Revenue Realisation concept, revenue is considered as the income earned on the
date, when it is realised. As per this concept, unearned or unrealised revenue is not taken into
account. This concept is vital for determining income pertaining to an accounting period. It
Matching Concept
As per this concept, Matching of the revenues earned during an accounting period with the cost
associated with the respective period to ascertain the result of the business concern is carried out.
This concept serves as the basis for finding accurate profit for a period which can be distributed to
the owners.
Accrual
Under Accrual method of accounting, the transactions are recorded when earned or incurred
rather when collected or paid i.e., transactions are recorded on the basis of income earned or
expense incurred irrespective of actual receipt or payment. For example, a seller bills the buyer at
the time of sale and treats the bill amount as revenue, even though the payment may be received later.
booked when they are actually paid, rather than when incurred. This method
Going Concern
As per this assumption, the business will exist for a long period and transactions are recorded
Accounting Period
The users of financial statements required periodical reports to ascertain the operational and the
financial position of the business concern. Thus, it is essential to close the accounts at regular
intervals. viz., 365 days, 52 weeks, or 1 year is considered as the accounting period.
Accounting Entity
According to this assumption, a business is considered as a unit or entity apart from its owners,
creditors and others. For example, in case of a Sole Proprietor concern, the proprietor is treated
to be separate and distinct from the business, which he controls. The proprietor is treated as a
creditor to the extent of his capital and all the business transactions are recorded in the books of
Money Measurement
In accounting, only business transactions and events of financial nature are recorded. Only transactions
As per Double Entry System of book-keeping, all the business transactions recorded in accounts
have two aspects - Debit aspect (receiving) and Credit aspect (giving). For example, when a
business acquires an asset (receiving) and pays cash (giving) for it. This accounting technique
records each transaction as debit and credit, where every debit has a corresponding credit and
vice versa.
The Double entry system of book keeping comprises of the following features :
Helps to check the accuracy of the accounting transactions, by preparation of trial balance
Helps ascertaining profit earned or loss occurred during a period, by preparation of Profit &
Loss Account
Helps ascertaining financial position of the concern at the end of each period, by preparation
of Balance Sheet
Minimises the possibilities of fraud due to its systematic and scientific recording of business
transactions.
The following chart explains the way in which accounting transactions are recorded in the Double
Mode of Accounting
Accounting process begins with identifying and recording the transactions in the books of
accounts i.e., the first step in the Accounting Process is recording of transactions in the books of
accounts. Accounting identifies only those transactions and events which involves money and is
Cash Memo
Invoice or Bill
Vouchers
Receipt
Debit Note
Credit Note
Voucher
Receipt
When a trader receives cash from a customer against goods sold by him, issues a receipt containing
Invoice or Bill
When a trader sells goods to a buyer, he prepares a sales invoice containing the details of name
and address of buyer, name of goods, amount and terms of payments and so on. Similarly, when
the trader purchases goods on credit receive an Invoice/bill from the supplier of such goods.
A journal is a record in which all business transactions are entered in a chronological order. A
record of a single business transaction is called a journal entry. Every journal entry is supported
Account
income.
Ledger
A Ledger is a book which contains all the accounts whether personal, real or nominal, which are
Chart of Accounts
A chart of accounts is a list of all accounts used by an organisation. The chart of accounts also
Posting
Posting is the process of transferring the entries recorded in the journal or subsidiary books to
the respective accounts opened in the ledger i.e., grouping of all the transactions relating to a particular
Generally, the financial statements are generated for a regular period such as a quarter or a year,
for timely and accurate ascertainment of operating and financial position of the organisation.
Trial Balance
Trial balance is a statement which shows debit balances and credit balances of all Ledger
accounts. As per the rules of double entry system, every debit should have a corresponding
credit, the total of the debit balances and credit balances should agree. A detailed trial balance
Account name
Debit balance
Credit balance
Financial Statements
Financial statements are result of accounting work done during the accounting period.
about the profitability and financial position of the organisation. Financial statements normally
include
Trading
Balance Sheet
Trading Account
Trading refers to buying and selling of goods. The trading account displays the transactions pertaining
The difference between the two sides of the Trading Account indicates either Gross Profit or
Gross Loss. If the credit side total is in excess of the debit side total, the difference represents
Gross Profit. On the other hand, if the total of the debit side is in excess of the credit side total, the
difference represents Gross Loss. Such Gross Profit / Gross Loss is transferred to Profit & Loss
The profit and loss account helps to ascertain the net profit earned or net loss suffered during a
particular period. after considering, all other incomes and expenses incurred over a period. This
helps the company to monitor and control the costs incurred and improve its efficiency. In other
words, the profit and loss statement shows the performance of the company in terms of profits or
Net Profit = (Gross Profit + Other Income) – (Selling and Administrative Expenses + Depreciation
A key element of the Profit and Loss Account, and one that distinguishes it from a balance sheet,
is that the amounts shown on the statement represent transactions over a period of time, while
the items represented on the balance sheet show information as on a specific date.
All revenue and expense accounts are closed once the profit and loss account is prepared. The
Revenue and Expenses accounts will not have an opening balance for the next accounting
period.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet is a statement that summarises the assets and liabilities of a business. The
excess of assets over liabilities is the net worth of a business. The balance sheet provides information
The balances of all the real, personal and nominal (capital in nature) accounts are transferred
from trial, balance to balance sheet and grouped under the major heads of assets and liabilities.
The balance sheet is complete when the net profit/ loss is transferred from the Profit and Loss
account.
Transactions
A transaction is a financial event that takes places in the course or furtherance of business and
effects the financial position of the company. For example, when you deposit cash in the bank,
your cash balance reduces and bank balance increases or when you sell goods for cash, your
Purchases
Sales
Recording Transactions
The important aspect of accounting is to record transactions promptly and correctly to ascertain
Purchase of goods either as raw materials for processing or as finished goods for resale
Suppliers of equipment, buildings and other assets needed to carry on the business.
Points to Remember
financial information.
Entity is the organisational unit for which accounting records are maintained.
as on a specific date.