The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) issued IAS37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets in September 1998. It replaced parts of IAS10 Contingencies and became operative for annual financial statements covering periods beginning on or after 1 July 1999. The objective of this standard is to ensure that appropriate recognition criteria and measurement bases are applied to provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets and that sufficient information is disclosed in the notes to enable users to understand their nature, timing and amount. The key principle of IAS37 is that a provision should be recognized only when a liability exists. Planned future expenditures are not recognized as provisions or contingencies, even if the board of directors has authorized them. IAS37 prescribes the accounting and disclosure for all provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets, except those resulting from executory contracts, except where the contract is onerous. Executory contracts are contracts under which Continue reading
Accounting Concepts
The Role of the Management Accountant in Organizations
A management accountant’s duty is to provide information to users who are part of the organization from various levels. However, different levels of management has different information needs. Thus, a management accountant has to tailor the information for them. The first step that should be taken before the management accountant provides any type of information is that he should be clear and understand the company vision as the top, middle and bottom management of an organization. The top-level management is responsible for the long term strategic plan with strategic decisions for about 5 to 10 years time. Therefore the top management will create a mission, which will consist of a more specific goal that unifies company’s efforts. So, the management accountant should prepare budgets for top management accountant to decide which projects have to undertaken to achieve the company’s goals. Budget is a strategic plan that details the action that Continue reading
By-Product – Meaning and Accounting Treatment
Salable or usable products having a relatively low value incidentally realized in the course of manufacturing the main product is called by-product. In many instances, there may be several joint products and several by-products depending upon the nature of the input raw materials being processed. A by-product is an outcome that does not make tangible contribution to the sales revenue. The economic value of by-product, comparing it with the main product, is comparatively low. By-product in the course of sugar production are Bagasse of solid waste and molasses of sweet semi-liquid product. Poultry farm in delivering chicken meat to the market gets poultry leftover parts such as poultry fathers, bones, beaks, feet and poultry fat as by-product. The fibers and outer shell of coconut are the by-products residue of coconut oil and product. Accounting Treatment of By-Product By-product accounting depends on the circumstances under which it is realized. The following could be Continue reading
Strategies to Resolve the Principal Agent Problem
The principal agent problem refers to difficulties of motivating one party the agent to act for the best interest of the other party the principal. In a company, the owners of the assets (the stockholder) are the principals and the managers of the company are the agents. The stockholders of the company authorize the managers to manage and use their resources to make profit for the stockholders. The cause of the principal agent problem is that the information asymmetry between the principal and the agent and the principal and agent have different interests. Generally, the Agents are the managers of the resources and have more information than the principals. In a company, the managers of the company will have more information about the company than the stockholders of the company. The agents may use this asymmetric information to get interest for themselves rather than the principals. In general, the principal Continue reading
Concept of Internal Controls in Accounting
What are Internal Controls? In a broad sense, internal control comprises controls which embrace the organizational plan and the methods used to protection the assets, create the dependability of financial data and records, endorse working efficacy and loyalty to managerial policies. Internal control is categorized by independence between departments and lines of vicarious duty and authority. It is important that these internal controls verify the dependability and correctness of the data supportive all transactions using control total techniques, sanctions and approvals, contrasts, and other tests of data accuracy. Why Internal Controls are Important? Before management can make judgments to maximize the long run profit of a firm, it must first have dependable accounting data on which to base these decisions. This info should be timely, accurate, complete, and reliable. The protection of the assets of the firm against losses from misappropriation, robbery, failure to take discounts, inadequacy, and unjustified delays Continue reading
Top Down Approach for Audit of Internal Controls
The purpose of using the top down approach for an audit of internal controls is to allow the auditor to take a systematic approach to identify risks and select which controls to test. The top down approach begins with the auditor forming a general understanding of the entity and the industry in which it operates. This is accomplished by looking at the company’s financial statements, and acquiring general business knowledge. The auditor then looks at the entity-level controls of the company to ensure that sufficient policies and procedures are implemented to recognize misstatements, due to error or fraud, in a timely manner so that material misstatements do not affect the financial statements. The two most important types of entity-level controls are those related to the control environment, and those over the period-end financial reporting process. Controls over the control environment should assess how management promotes ethical values and integrity, as Continue reading