Meaning and Definitions of Value Added The traditional basic financial statements are balance sheet and Profit & Loss account. These statements generate and provide data related to financial performance only. They do not provide any information which shows the extent of the value or the wealth created by the company for a particular period. Hence, there arose a need to modify the existing accounting and financial reporting system so that the business unit is able to give importance to judge its performance by indicating the value or wealth created by it. To this direction inclusion of Value Added statement in financial reporting system is useful. The Value Added concept is now a recognized part of the accountant’s repertoire. However, the concept of Value Added (VA) is not new. Value Added is a basic and broad measure of performance of an enterprise. It is a basic measure because it indicates Continue reading
Business Finance Terms
Sources of Finance – Financing a New Business
In case of proprietorship business, the individual proprietor generally invests his own savings to start with, and may borrow money on his personal security or the security of his assets from others. Similarly, the capital of a partnership firm consists partly of funds contributed by the partners and partly of borrowed funds. But the company from of organization enables the promoters to raise necessary funds from the public who may contribute capital and become members (share holders) of the company. In course of its business, the company can raise loans directly from banks and financial institutions or by issue of securities (debentures) to the public. Besides, profits earned may also be reinvested instead of being distributed as dividend to the shareholders. Thus for any business enterprise, there are two sources of finance, viz, funds contributed by owners and funds available from loans and credits. In other words the financial resources Continue reading
Agency Theory in Financial Management
Agency theory is often described in terms of the relationships between the various interested parties in the firm. The agency theory examines the duties and conflicts that occur between parties who have an agency relationship. Agency relationships occur when one party, the principal, employs another party, called the agent, to perform a task on their behalf. Agency theory is helpful in explaining the actions of the various interest groups in the corporate governance debate. For example, managers can be seen as the agents of shareholders, employees as the agents of managers, managers and shareholders as the agents of long and short-term creditors, etc. In most of these principal-agent relationships conflicts of interest is seen to exist. It has been widely observed that the conflicts between shareholders and managers and in a similar way the objectives of employees and managers may be in conflict. Although the actions of all the parties Continue reading
5 Different Types of Budgets in Business
Budgets are integral parts of planning for business and attaining its perceived objectives. Accordingly business activities involving future planning use the budgetary control process. Different types of budgets to serve business purposes are in vogue, but uses of some budgets that are invariably used by businesses are taken up in detailed manner in this write up. 1. Sales Budget Sales budget is an estimate of expected sales revenue for ensuing financial period. Estimates of sales are budgeted on the basis of variety of factors like earlier period sales, production capacities, existing and expected sales environments, economic factors like trade policies of the Governments, seasonal fluctuations, entity’s capacity to create new markets, financing, advertisements and other marketing plans, and many other factors. The cornerstone of budgeting process is the sales budget because the usefulness of entire operating budget depends on it. Some important uses of sales budget are enumerated as under: Continue reading
What is Expense Center?
In expense centers, inputs or expenses are measured in monetary terms whereas the outputs are not measured in monetary terms. There are two types of expense centers – engineered expense centers and discretionary expense centers. Engineered expense centers: In these centers, inputs or expenses are measured in monetary terms and outputs are measured in physical terms. These centers are usually found in the manufacturing units that use a standard cost system. There are certain responsibility centers within administrative and support departments that actually are engineered expense centers. In these centers, the cost of the product is determined by multiplying the output of each unit with its standard cost. Its efficiency is measured by comparing the actual cost with the standard cost. Discretionary expense centers: In discretionary expense centers, the output cannot be measured in monetary terms. Discretionary expense centers include administrative and support units like legal, accounting, Continue reading
Capital Sources for Business: Equity Shares
Equity shares are financial instruments to raise equity capital. The equity share capital is the backbone of any company’s financial structure. Equity capital represents ownership capital. Equity shareholders collectively own the company. They enjoy the reward of ownership and bear the risk of ownership. The equity share capital is also termed as the venture capital on account of the risk involved in it. The equity shareholders’ liability, unlike the liability of the owner in a proprietary concern and the partners in a partnership concern, is limited to their capital subscription and contribution. In India, under the Companies Act 1956, shares which are not preference shares are called equity shares. The equity shareholders get dividend after the payment of dividend to the preference shareholders. Similarly, at the event of the winding up of the company, capital is returned to them after the return of capital to the preference shareholders. The equity Continue reading