Saturday, February 26, 2011

Internal Auditing/Concurrent Auditing 2011



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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Accounting Basics: Current Assets

 We've previously discussed what Assets are. In an unclassified balance sheet where you only have 3 major classifiations (assets, liabilities and owners equity) that would be in the story. A much more useful report is the Classified Balance Sheet. Here, the three major categories are subdivided to provide readers of the financial statements with much more detailed information. The first such subdivision under assets is Current Assets.

Current Assets are defined as those assets which will either be converted into cash or otherwise 'used up' by the business in a relatively short period of time (generally one year or less). On the balance sheet, they are generally presented in order of liquidity; thus cash is generally listed first.

Other examples of current assets include accounts receivable, notes receivable (which often have a current and a non-current portion) and prepaid expenses. These will be examined in future entries.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Accounting Basics: The Balance Sheet

 One of the fundamental components (for want of a better word) of accounting is the Balance Sheet. The balance sheet is often referred to as a statement of financial position. It can be described as a snapshot that shows the company's financial position at any given moment. Listed in the balance sheet are the company's assets, liabilities and owners equity.

If you view the balance sheet as a two column worksheet, the assets would be in the left column while the liabilities and owners equity would be in the right column. The two columns must be equal.

You won't be able to determine the company's profitability from the balance sheet. What the balance sheet will show is the solvency of the company. Analysts will look at various ratios (i.e. current ratio: current assets / current liabilities) to determine the company's financial well being.

Future entries in my Accounting Basics series will describe each of the components of the balance sheet.

Accounting Basics: Management Accounting vs. Financial Accounting

 This 3rd installment in my "Accounting Basics" series will discuss the differences between Management Accounting and Financial Accounting.

The private accounting field can be further divided into two sub-categories depending on how the information generated by the accountant is used.

As its name implies, Management (or Managerial) Accounting provides that information which is used by managers within the company. The information provided can be as broad as long range financial projections or as detailed as analyzing cost variances (ie budget overages). Wikipedia defines management accounting as being " concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis in making informed business decisions that would allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions."

While management accounting concerns the internal use of information, Financial Accounting concerns the external use of accounting information. Of course financial accounting concepts are used in management accounting. Financial accounting involves providing information which is useful to external users such as prospective buyers and investors, creditors, government agencies, etc. Financial Statements are the most provided piece of information. These include the Balance Sheet and Income Statement (to be explained in a future post). Wikipedia defines financial accounting as "the field of accountancy concerned with the preparation of financial statements for decision makers, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, government agencies, owners, and other stakeholders. Financial accountancy is used to prepare accounting information for people outside the organization or not involved in the day to day running of the company."

Accounting Basics: Assets

 As hinted in my previous entry, the balance sheet is comprised of three basic sections: assets, liabilities and owners equity. Assets are resources or items of value owned by the business. They are items of value which can be used or exchanged in the production or delivery of services of the business.

Typically, the most common asset people think of is cash. Cash can be exchanged to purchase office supplies, raw materials used in production, pay employees, etc.; thus it is an asset of the business. Machinery is another asset; it is used in the production of the goods or services delivered by the business.

Substantial effort is made by accountants in valuing assets; some of which may not have a clear current value. For example, a piece of equipment purchased five years ago for $100,000 and used daily in the operation of the business is not worth $100,000 today (in the same way that a five year old car is not worth the price paid for it when it was new). In this instance, accountants use depreciation to adjust the value of a 'fixed asset' such as this (to be discussed later).