Chapter 1: Introduction Flashcards
(34 cards)
Proprietorship
organisation with only one owner –> personally liable for debt and losses
partnership
consists of two or more people, co-owners. both personally liable for debt
limited liability partnership
every partner is only liable for the amount of their investment plus her part of the debt
corporation
organisation owned by shareholders –> legal person which means that shareholders are not responsible for debt, not are they personally liable
International Financial Reporting Standards
primary objective of financial reporting is to provide useful information that can be used by a wide group of users –> principle based and less strict
General Accepted Accounting Principles
rule-based and promotes strict rules
qualitative characteristics
make sure that the financial statements are are comprehensible and useful (fundamental vs enhancing)
relevance
information has to make a difference for the decision maker
materiality
information has to be of such importance that the decision maker would have made a different decision had the information been wrong or unavailable
predictive value
when information is used to estimate future outcomes
confirmative value
information used to criticise prior evaluations
faithful representation
faithfully represents the underlying economic phenomena of the financial statements must be:
- complete
- neutral
- free from error
accrual accounting
financial events should be recognised the moment they occur, regardless of when cash is received or paid
going concern
assumption that the entity will continue to operate long enough to use existing assets for its intended purposes
revenue
result of a company’s main activities
gains
result of company’s non-primary operations and production processes
expenses
costs that arise from the company’s main activities
losses
cost resulting from a company’s non-primary operations
first accounting formula
assets = liabilities + equity
second accounting formula
net income = total revenue and gains - total expenses and losses
general ledger
central database that includes all the accounting information that the company works with –> stores periodic (weekly/monthly) summaries of transactions –> secondary control as it makes it easier to track mistakes
to close the books
set all accounts back to zero
cash basis accounting
recognise the transaction when the money is transferred
concepts of accrual accounting
- time-period concept: info should be reported on a regular basis
- revenue recognition principle: revenue is only recognised when it is realised
- matching concept: costs and revenues must be matched –> which costs were made to sell which products