Explain the accounting concepts
CONVENTION OF CONSERVATION:
It is a world of uncertainty. So it is always better to pursue the policy of playing safe. This is the principle behind the convention of conservatism. According to this convention the accountant must be very careful while recognizing increases in an enterprise’s profits rather than recognizing decreases in profits. For this the accountants have to follow the rule, anticipate no profit, provide for all possible losses, while recording business transactions. It is on account of this convention that the inventory is valued `at cost or market price whichever is less’, i.e. when the market price of the inventories has fallen below its cost price it is shown at market price i.e. the possible loss is provided and when it is above the cost price it is shown at cost price i.e. the anticipated profit is not recorded. It is for the same reason that provision for bad and doubtful debts, provision for fluctuation in investments, etc., are created. This concept affects principally the current assets.
ACCOUNTING PERIOD CONCEPT
All the transactions are recorded in the books of accounts on the assumption that profits on these transactions are to be ascertained for a specified period. This is known as accounting period concept. Thus, this concept requires that a balance sheet and profit and loss account should be prepared at regular intervals. This is necessary for different purposes like, calculation of profit, ascertaining financial position, tax computation etc. Further, this concept assumes that, indefinite life of business is divided into parts. These parts are known as Accounting Period. It may be of one year, six months, three months, one month, etc. But usually one year is taken as one accounting period which may be a calendar year or a financial year. Year that begins from 1st of January and ends on 31st of December, is known as Calendar Year. The year that begins from 1st of April and ends on 31st of March of the following year, is known as financial year. As per accounting period concept, all the transactions are recorded in the books of accounts for a specified period of time. Hence, goods purchased and sold during the period, rent, salaries etc. paid for the period are accounted for and against that period only.
Significance
· It helps in predicting the future prospects of the business.
· It helps in calculating tax on business income calculated for a particular time period.
· It also helps banks, financial institutions, creditors, etc to assess and analyze the performance of business for a particular period.
· It also helps the business firms to distribute their income at regular intervals as dividends.
ACCOUNTING COST CONCEPT
Accounting cost concept states that all assets are recorded in the books of accounts at their purchase price, which includes cost of acquisition, transportation and installation and not at its market price. It means that fixed assets like building, plant and machinery, furniture, etc are recorded in the books of accounts at a price paid for them. For example, a machine was purchased by XYZ Limited for Rs.500000, for manufacturing shoes. An amount of Rs.1,000 were spent on transporting the machine to the factory site. In addition, Rs.2000 was spent on its installation. The total amount at which the machine will be recorded in the books of accounts would be the sum of all these items i.e. Rs.503000. This cost is also known as historical cost. Suppose the market price of the same is now Rs 90000 it will not be shown at this value. Further, it may be clarified that cost means original or acquisition cost only for new assets and for the used ones, cost means original cost less depreciation. The cost concept is also known as historical cost concept. The effect of cost concept is that if the business entity does not pay anything for acquiring an asset this item would not appear in the books of accounts. Thus, goodwill appears in the accounts only if the entity has purchased this intangible asset for a price.
Significance
· This concept requires asset to be shown at the price it has been acquired, which can be verified from the supporting documents.
· It helps in calculating depreciation on fixed assets.
· The effect of cost concept is that if the business entity does not pay anything for an asset, this item will not be shown in the books of accounts
ACCOUNTING PERIOD CONCEPT
All the transactions are recorded in the books of accounts on the assumption that profits on these transactions are to be ascertained for a specified period. This is known as accounting period concept. Thus, this concept requires that a balance sheet and profit and loss account should be prepared at regular intervals. This is necessary for different purposes like, calculation of profit, ascertaining financial position, tax computation etc. Further, this concept assumes that, indefinite life of business is divided into parts. These parts are known as Accounting Period. It may be of one year, six months, three months, one month, etc. But usually one year is taken as one accounting period which may be a calendar year or a financial year. Year that begins from 1st of January and ends on 31st of December, is known as Calendar Year. The year that begins from 1st of April and ends on 31st of March of the following year, is known as financial year. As per accounting period concept, all the transactions are recorded in the books of accounts for a specified period of time. Hence, goods purchased and sold during the period, rent, salaries etc. paid for the period are accounted for and against that period only.
Significance
· It helps in predicting the future prospects of the business.
· It helps in calculating tax on business income calculated for a particular time period.
· It also helps banks, financial institutions, creditors, etc to assess and analyze the performance of business for a particular period.
· It also helps the business firms to distribute their income at regular intervals as dividends.
MONEY MEASUREMENT CONCEPT
This concept assumes that all business transactions must be in terms of money that is in the currency of a country. In our country such transactions are in terms of rupees. Thus, as per the money measurement concept, transactions which can be expressed in terms of money are recorded in the books of accounts. For example, sale of goods worth Rs.200000, purchase of raw materials Rs.100000, Rent Paid Rs.10000 etc. are expressed in terms of money, and so they are recorded in the books of accounts. But the transactions which cannot be expressed in monetary terms are not recorded in the books of accounts. For example, sincerity, loyalty, honesty of employees are not recorded in books of accounts because these cannot be measured in terms of money although they do affect the profits and losses of the business concern. Another aspect of this concept is that the records of the transactions are to be kept not in the physical units but in the monetary unit. For example, at the end of the year 2006, an organization may have a factory on a piece of land measuring 10 acres, office building containing 50 rooms, 50 personal computers, 50 office chairs and tables, 100 kg of raw materials etc. These are expressed in different units. But for accounting purposes they are to be recorded in money terms i.e. in rupees. In this case, the cost of factory land may be say Rs.12 crore, office building of Rs.10 crore, computers Rs.10 lakhs, office chairs and tables Rs.2 lakhs, raw material Rs.30 lakhs. Thus, the total assets of the organization are valued at Rs.22 crore and Rs.42 lakhs. Therefore, the transactions which can be expressed in terms of money is recorded in the accounts books, that too in terms of money and not in terms of the quantity.
Significance
The following points highlight the significance of money measurement Concept:
· This concept guides accountants what to record and what not to record.
· It helps in recording business transactions uniformly.
· If all the business transactions are expressed in monetary terms, it will be easy to understand the accounts prepared by the business enterprise.
· It facilitates comparison of business performance of two different periods of the same firm or of the two different firms for the same period.
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