Chapter 1:Accounting Terms and Assumptions

Contents:

1.1 Accounting Definition & Objectives

1.2 Financial Statements

1.3 A Starting Point: Statement of Financial Position

1.4 The Concept of the Business Entity

1.5 Assets

1.6 The Cost Principle

1.7 The Going Concern Assumption

1.8 The Objectivity Principle

1.9 The Stable – Dollar Assumption

1.10 Liabilities

1.11 Owners' Equity

1.12 Increases in Owners' Equity

1.1

Accounting Definition & Objectives

1.1 Accounting Definition & Objectives

Accounting is a framework of concepts, procedures, and methods which are implemented to prepare the financial information needed to the stockholders and to help accounting information user in making decision.

The main objectives of accounting systems are:

1        Provide the necessary information needed by the management to tackle the business organization decisions.

2        Produce financial statements to inform owner (s) of the business about the financial position and the results of operating the business for a specific period of time.

1.2

Financial Statements

1.2 Financial Statements

The Accounting system aims at producing a set of financial statements.

 These statements are:

-          Balance sheet (financial position).

-          Income statement.

-          Cash flow statement

-          Statement of stockholder or owners equity.

1.3

A Starting Point: Statement of Financial Position

Among Assets

Liabilities before owner's equity

Owner's equity

separated into

Total assets

1.3 A Starting Point: Statement of Financial Position

All three financial statements contain important information, but each includes different information. For that reason, it is important to understand all three financial statements and how they relate to each other.

A logical starting point for understanding financial statements is the statement of financial position; also called the balance sheet. The purpose of this statement is to demonstrate where the company stands, in financial terms, at specific point in time. As we will see later in this chapter, the other financial statement relates to the statement of financial position and show how important aspects of a company's financial position change over time. Beginning with the statement of financial position also allows us to understand certain basic accounting principles and terminologies that are important for understanding all financial statement.

Every business prepares a balance sheet at the end of the year and many companies prepare one at the end of each month, week, or even day. It consists of a listing of the assets, the liabilities, and the owners' equity of a business. The date is important, as the financial position of a business may change quickly. Table 1.1 shows the financial position of Summit Company on December 31, 2004.

Table 1.1: Summit company

Let us briefly describe several features of this balance sheet. First, the heading communicates three things: (1) the name of the business, (2) the name of the financial statement, and (3) the date. The body of the balance sheet also consists of three distinct sections: assets, liabilities, and owners' equity.

Notice that cash is listed first among the assets, followed by notes receivable, accounts receivable, supplies, and any other assets that will soon be converted into cash or used up in business operations, Following these relatively " Liquid" assets are the more "permanent"  assets, such as land, buildings and equipment.

 Liabilities are shown before owner's equity. Liabilities are debts owed by the company to be paid within a specific period of time to the creditors Each major type of liability ( such as notes payable, accounts payables and payable ) is listed separately, followed by a figure for total liabilities.    

Owners' equity is separated into two parts: capital stock and retained earning. Capital stock represents the amount that owners originally paid into the company to become owners. It consists of individual shares and owner has a set number of shares.  Notice in this illustration that capital stock totals $150,000. This means that the assigned value of the shares held by the owners multiplied by the number of shares equals $150,000. For example assuming an assigned volume of $10 per share, there would be 15,000 shares ($10 X 15,000 = $ 150,000).

 Alternatively, the assigned value might be $5 per share, in which case there would be 30,000 shares ($5 X 30,000= $ 150,000). The retained earning part of owners' equity is simply the accumulated earning of previous years that remain within the enterprise. Retained earnings are considered part of the equity of the owners and serves to enhance their investment in the business. 

Finally notice that the amount of total assets ($300,000) is equal to the total amount of liabilities and owners' equity (also $300,000). This relationship always exists-in fact, the equality of these totals is why this financial statement frequently called a balance sheet.

1.4

The Concept of the Business Entity

1.4 The Concept of the Business Entity

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), require that a set of financial statements describe the affairs of a specific business entity. This concept is called the entity principle.

 A business entity is an economic unit that engages in identifiable business activities. For accounting purposes, the business entity is regarded as separate from the personal activities of its owners. For example, Summit Company is a business organization operating as a travel agency. Its owners may have personal bank accounts, homes and even other businesses. These items are not involved in the operation of the travel agency and should not appear in Summit's financial statement.

 If the owners were to merge their personal activities with the transactions of the business, the resulting financial statement would fail to describe clearly the financial activities of the business organization. Distinguishing business from personal activities of the owners my require judgment by the accountant.

1.5

Assets

1.5 Assets

Assets are economic resources that are owned by a business and expected to benefit future operations. In most cases, the benefit to the future operations becomes the form of positive future cash flows. The positive future cash flows may come directly as the asset is converted into cash (collection of a receivable) or indirectly as the asset is used in operating the business to create other assets that result in positive future cash flows (building and land used to manufacture a product for sale). Assets may have definite physical forms such as buildings, machinery, or an inventory of merchandise. On the other hand, some assets exist not in physical or tangible form, but the form of valuable legal claims or rights; examples are amounts due from customers, investment in government bonds, and patent rights. 

One of the most basic and at the same time most controversial problems in accounting is determining the dollar amount for the various assets of a business. At present, generally accepted accounting principles call for the valuation of many assets in balance sheet at cost rather than at their current value. The specific accounting principles supporting cost as the basis for asset valuation are discussed below.

1.6

The Cost Principle

Exceptions

In reading a balance sheet

1.6 The Cost Principle

Assets such as land buildings, merchandise and equipment are typical of the many economic resources that are required in producing revenue for the business. The prevailing accounting view is that such assets should be present at their cost. When we say that an asset is shown in the balance sheet at its historical cost, we mean the original amount the business entity to acquire the asset. This amount may be different from the asset's market value.

 For example, let us assume that a business buys a tract of land for use as a building site, paying $100,000 in cash. The amount to be entered in the accounting records for the asset will be the cost of $100,000 if we assume a booming real estate market, a fair estimate of the market value of the land 10 years later might be $ 250.000.  Although the market price or economic value of the land has raised greatly, the accounting amount as shown in the accounting records and in the balance sheet would continue unchanged at the cost of $100.000. This policy of accounting for many assets at their cost is often referred to as the cost principle of accounting.  

Exceptions to the cost principle are found in some of the most liquid assets (i.e., asset that are expected to become cash soon). Amount receivable from customers is generally included in the balance sheet at their net realizable value, which is an amount that approximates the cash that will be received when the receivable is collected. Similarly certain investments in other enterprises are included in the balance sheet at their current market value if management's plan includes conversion into cash in the near future.

 In reading a balance sheet, it is important to keep in mind that the dollar amounts listed for most assets do not indicate the prices at which the assets could be or the prices at which they could be replaced. A frequently misunderstood feature of a balance sheet is that it does not show how much the business currently is worth.

1.7

The Going Concern Assumption

1.7 The Going Concern Assumption

Why don't accountants change the recorded amount to correspond with changing market prices for these properties? One reason is that assets like land and buildings are being used to house the business and were acquired for use and not for resale: in fact, these assets usually cannot be sold without disrupting the business. The balance sheet of a business is prepared on the assumption that the business is a continuing enterprise, or a going concern. Consequently, the present estimated prices which assets like land and buildings could be sold are of less importance than if these properties were intended for sale. These are frequently among the largest dollar amount of a company's assets determining that enterprise is going concern may require judgment by the accountant. 

1.8

The Objectivity Principle

1.8 The Objectivity Principle

Another reason for using cost rather than current market values in accounting for most assets is the need for a definite, factual basis for valuation. The cost of land, buildings, and other assets purchased for cash can be rather definitely determined. Accountants use the term objective to describe asset valuation that are factual and can be verified by independent experts. For example, if land is shown on the balance sheet at any cost a Certified public Accountant, who performed an audit of the business  would be able to find objective evidence the land was actually measured at the incurred in acquiring it. On the other hand, estimated market values for assets such as buildings and specialized machinery are not factual and objective. Market values are constantly changing and estimates of the prices at which assets could be sold are largely a matter of judgment. 

At the date an asset is acquired, the cost and market value usually the same. With the passage of time, however, the current market value of assets is likely to differ considerably from the cost recorded in the owners' accounting records. 

1.9

The Stable – Dollar Assumption

Accountants in Egypt

After much research

1.9 The Stable – Dollar Assumption

A limitation of measuring assets at historical cost is that the value of the monetary unit or dollar is not always stable.  Inflation is a term used to describe the situation where the value of the monetary unit decreases; meaning that it will purchase less than it did previously. Deflation, on other hand is the opposite situation in which the value of the monetary unit increases, meaning that it will purchase more than it did previously. Typically, countries like the United States have experienced inflation rather than deflation. When inflation becomes severe, historical cost amounts for assets lose their relevance as a basis for making business decisions. For this reason, some consideration has been given to the use of balance sheets that would show assets at current appraised values or at replacement costs rather at historical cost.  

Accountants in Egypt, by adhering to the cost basis of accounting, are implying that the LE is a stable unit of measurement, as the gallon, the acre or the mile. The cost principle and the stable-dollar assumption work very well in periods of stable prices but are less satisfactory under conditions of rapid inflation. For example, if a company bought land 20 years ago for $100,000 purchased a second similar tract of land today for $500,000. The total cost of land shown by the accounting records would be $600,000. This treatment ignores the fact that dollars spent 30 years ago had greater purchasing power than today's dollar. Thus the $600,000 total for the cost of land is a mixture of two "sizes" of dollars with different purchasing power.  

After much research into this problem, the Financial Accounting Stand Board (FASB) is required on basis that large corporations annually disclose financial data adjusted for the effects of inflation. But after several years of experimentation, The FASB concluded that costs of developing this information exceeded its usefulness. At the present time, this disclosure is optional, as judged appropriate by the accountant who prepares the financial statements.

1.10

Liabilities

1.10 Liabilities

Liabilities are debts. They represent negative future cash flow for the enterprise. The person or organization to whom the debt is owed is a creditor. All businesses have liabilities even the largest and most successful companies often purchase merchandise supplies, and services on account. The liabilities arising from such purchases are called accounts payable. Many businesses borrow money to finance expansion or the purchase of high-cost assets. When obtaining a loan the borrower usually must sign a formal note payable. A note payable is a written promise to repay the amount owed by a particular date and usually for the payment of interest as well.

1.11

Owners' Equity

1.11 Owners' Equity

Owners' equity represents the owners' claim on the assets of business. Because creditors' claims have legal priority over those of the owners, equity is a residual amount. If you are the owner of a business, you are entitled to assets that are left after the claims of creditors have been satisfied in full. Therefore, owners' equity is always equal to total assets minus total liabilities. For example, using the data from the illustrated balance sheet of Summit Travel Agency, as shown in Table 1.2:

 Table 1.2: Balance sheet of Summit Travel Agency 

Owners' equity does not represent a specific claim to cash or any other particular asset. Rather, it is the owners overall financial interest in the entire company.

1.12

Increases in Owners' Equity

Decreases in Owners' Equity 

1.12 Increases in Owners' Equity

The owners' equity in a business comes from two sources:

-          Investments of cash or other assets owners

-          Earning from profitable operation of the business.

 Decreases in Owners' Equity 

Decreases in owner's equity also are caused in two ways:

-          Payments of cash or transfers of other assets owners

Quick Jump 1.1 Accounting Definition & Objectives 1.2 Financial Statements 1.3 A Starting Point: Statement of Financial Position 1.4 The Concept of the Business Entity 1.5 Assets 1.6 The Cost Principle 1.7 The Going Concern Assumption 1.8 The Objectivity Principle 1.9 The Stable – Dollar Assumption 1.10 Liabilities 1.11 Owners' Equity 1.12 Increases in Owners' Equity