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Topic 1 of 6 · Form 3

Fundamentals of accounting

Book-keeping records financial transactions; accounting summarises, analyses and communicates them. Users: owners, managers, lenders, suppliers, employees, tax authorities and potential investors.

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Purpose

Book-keeping records financial transactions; accounting summarises, analyses and communicates them. Users: owners, managers, lenders, suppliers, employees, tax authorities and potential investors.

The accounting equation

Assets = Capital + Liabilities (Assets − Liabilities = Capital). Every transaction keeps the equation in balance.

Worked example: Capital US$15 000; liabilities US$6 000. Find total assets.

15 000 + 6 000 = US$21 000

Accounting principles

Business entity, consistency, duality, going concern, historical cost, matching (accruals), materiality, money measurement, prudence, realisation.

Policies

Comparability, relevance, reliability and understandability; international accounting standards.

Profit and loss

Profit increases capital; losses and drawings decrease it.

Exam tip: When asked which principle applies, describe the principle and link it to the facts in the question.

Check yourself

  1. State the accounting equation.
  2. Which principle says the owner's personal transactions are separate from the business?
  3. Give one effect of drawings on the accounting equation.
Show answers
  1. Assets = Capital + Liabilities.
  2. Business entity.
  3. Assets (e.g. cash) decrease and capital decreases by the same amount.
Next topicSources and recording of data

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