Learning Guide: Accounts and Budget Service
Learning Guide: Accounts and Budget Service
Learning Guide: Accounts and Budget Service
Learning Guide
Unit of Competence Establish and Maintain an Accrual Accounting
System
INTRODUCTION
Accruals
Deferred expenses expected to benefit a short period of time are listed on the balance sheet
among the current assets, where they are called prepaid expenses. Long-term prepayments that
can be charged to the operations of several years are presented on the balance sheet in a section
called deferred charges.
Deferred revenues may be listed on the balance sheet as a current liability, where they are called
unearned revenue or revenues received in advance. If a long period of time is involved, they
are presented on the balance sheet in a section called deferred credits.
Prepaid expenses are the costs of goods and services that have been purchased but not used at the
end of the accounting period. The portion of the asset that has been used during the period has
become an expense; the remainder will not become an expense until some time in the future.
Prepaid expenses include such items as prepaid insurance, prepaid rent, prepaid advertising,
prepaid interest, and various kinds of payments.
Insurance premiums or other services or supplies that are used may be debited to asset accounts
when purchased, even though all or part of them is expected to be consumed during the
accounting period. The amount actually used is then determined at the end of the period and the
accounts adjusted accordingly.
If supplies on hand inventory are $890.00 on March 31, the following adjusting entry is needed:
March 1. Supplies----------------------------------------1850.00
Cash---------------------------------- 1850.00
If the amount of insurance unexpired at the end of the month is $2650, then the expired amount
of insurance will be $1910 ($4560-2650=1910). The following journal entry is needed:
March1: Prepaid insurance----------------------$4560.00
Cash--------------------------------------4560.00
A prepaid expense is an item paid and recorded in advance of its use or consumption in the
business, part of which properly represents expense of the current period and part of which
represents an asset on hand at the end of the period. If a three-year insurance premium is paid in
advance at the beginning of the current year, one third of the amount paid represents expense of
the current year and two-third is an asset at the end of the year, an mount properly to be deferred
Example: If insurance for three years is purchased for $1200 on January 2, 2004,
and the books are closed annually on December 31, the asset account appears as
follows on Dec 31, 2004, before the adjusting entry is made:
Prepaid Insurance
2004
Jan 2. $ 1200
Because one-third of the three-year period has now passed, one-third of the amount paid is
reported as an expense for 2004, and the asset account is reduced by the same amount. The
adjusting entry required on Dec. 31, 2004 is:
Insurance expense----------------------- 400
Prepaid insurance----------------- 400
The ledger now shows an insurance expense of $400 and an asset, prepaid insurance, of $ 800.
Note: In some cases, the adjusting entries vary depending on the accounting procedure followed
in recording the original transaction.
Example: Assume that office supplies are acquired during the accounting period at a cost of $
5000. At the end of the period, a physical inventory reveals that supplies on hand cost $550. At
the time the supplies were acquired, the $5000 may have been debited to an asset account or an
expense account.
Office supplies-------------------------$550
Office supplies expense------------------$550
Under either approach, the final result is the same. There is an asset of $550 and an expense of
$4450. In both cases, the amount of the unexpired cost was determined and an adjusting entry
was necessary to make the ledger account balances agree with the information available.
Other examples of unearned revenue are rent received in advance on property rented, premiums
received in advance by an insurance company, tuition received in advance by a school, an annual
retainer fee received in advance by an attorney, and amounts received in advance by an
advertising firm for advertising services to be rendered in the future.
By accepting advance payment of a good or service, a business commits itself to furnish the
good or the service at some future time. At the end of the accounting period, if some portion of
the good or the service has been furnished, part of the revenue has been earned. The earned
portion appears in the income statement. The unearned portion represents a liability of the
business to furnish the good or the service in a future period and is reported in the balance sheet
as a liability.
Example: Assume that a business rented part of a building for a three-year period from January
3, 2004, for $ 60,000 to a tenant who paid the full three years’ rent in advance. The business
made the following entry to record rent received in advance.
Jan.2. Cash---------------------------------------$ 60,000
At the end of 2004, one third of this amount is earned and therefore, an adjusting entry is made.
Dec. 31. Unearned rent------------------------$20,000
Rent revenue---------------------------$20,000
The entry also records $20,000 in the rent revenue account, which represents the amount of
revenue earned during the year. These two accounts now show the following balances after
adjustment.
Note: If cash is received in advance, the original transaction may be recorded by a credit to
either a liability account or a revenue account.
Example: Assume that customers paid $ 500,000 for magazine subscriptions during the current
accounting period; however, $75,000 represented payments for magazines to be delivered in
subsequent periods.
The required adjusting entry to record the earned revenue at the end of the period is:
TTLM Development Manual Date: October 12,2013
Compiled by: KH Acct department
Axum poly technique college
Training, Teaching and Learning Materials
Unearned subscriptions----------------------425,000
Subscriptions revenue------------------- 425,000
The required adjusting entry to transfer the unearned revenue to a liability account is shown
below:
Subscriptions revenue----------------------------$75,000
Unearned subscriptions------------------------------$75,000
Under either approach, the adjusted amount of the liability is $75,000, and the adjusted amount
of the revenue is $ 425,000.
Accrued expenses may be described on the balance sheet as accrued liabilities, or reference to
the accrual may be omitted from the title, as in “wages payable”. The liabilities for accrued
expenses are ordinarily due with in a year and are listed as current liabilities.
Accrued revenues may be described on the balance sheet as accrued assets, or reference to the
accrual may be omitted form the title, as in “Interest receivable” and “Fees receivable”. The
amounts receivable for accrued revenues are usually due with in a short time and are classified as
current assets.
When employees for example, are paid on a monthly basis on the last day of the month, there are
no accrued wages and salaries at the end of the month or year because all employees will have
been paid all amounts due them for the month or the year. When they are paid on a weekly or
biweekly basis, however, it is usually necessary to make an adjusting entry for wages and
salaries earned but not paid at the end of the fiscal period
Example: Assume that a business pays its sales staff every Friday for a five-day week, that the
total weekly payroll is $8000, and that Dec.31 falls on Thursday. On Dec 31, the end of the
fiscal period, the employees has worked four-fifths of a week for which they have not been paid
and for which no entry has been made. The adjusting entry on Dec.31 is:
Dec. 31. Salaries Expense------------------------6400
Salaries payable ----------------- 6400
As a result of this entry, the Income statement for the year includes the salaries earned by the
sales staff during the last four days in December and the balance-sheet shows a liability, salaries
payable, of $ 6,400.00.
Example:-Assume that office space is rented to a tenant at $ 1000 per month, that the tenant has
paid the rent for the first 11 months of the year, and that the tenant has paid no rent for
December, The adjusting entry on Dec, 31 is as follows:
Dec.31. Rent Receivable--------------------------1000
Rent Revenue ---------------------- 1000
As a result of this entry, an asset of $ 1000, Rent Receivable, appear on the balance sheet
disclosing the amount due from the tenant as of December 31.
Reversing entries
Reversing entries are an optional procedure which may be carried out at years end to simplify the
recording of certain routine cash receipts and payments in the following period.
Not all adjusting entries should be reversed. Only these adjustments that create account revenue
or a short term liability should be reversed. These adjustments will be followed by cash receipts
or cash payments with in near future.
Similarly, if payments for insurance and supplies during a period are recorded in expense
accounts, or if revenue received in advance during a period is recorded in revenue accounts, the
adjusting entries would have to be reversed because asset and liability accounts normally not
used during the period would be affected by the adjusting entries.
If acquisitions of supplies and other short-term prepayments during a period are recorded in asset
accounts, or if revenue received in advance is recorded in liability accounts, the adjusting entries
would bring existing asset and liability balances up to date, and no reversing entry would be
required.
Example – Assume that on July 31, Year 1, Dawit Company borrowed $ 200,000 at 12% on a
long- term note with interest of 6000 payable every three months. The first payment of interest
was made on October 31, year1, the next interest payment is due on January 31, year 2. Dawit is
on a calendar year basis.
The adjusting entry on December 31, year 1 is
Interest expense ----------------------------------- 4000
Interest payable --------------------------- 4000
1. The balance in the prepaid insurance account, before adjustment at the end of the year is $
7225. Journalize the adjusting entry required under each of the following alternatives for
determining the amount of the adjustment.
A. the amount of insurance expired during the year is $4900
B. the amount of unexpired insurance applicable to future periods is $2325.
2. A business enterprise pays weekly salaries of $ 12000 on Friday for a five-day week ending
on that day. Journalize the necessary adjusting entry at the end of the fiscal period, assuming that
the fiscal period ends on
A. Monday
B. Wednesday
3. The balance of the supplies account, before adjustment at the end of the year, is $ 2750. The
inventory of supplies at the end of the year was determined to be $600. Journalize the adjusting
entry required at the end of the year to recognize supplies used during the year.
Solution
1. A. Insurance Expense----------------------------------4900
Prepaid insurance --------------------------------4900
B. Wednesday is the third day of the week. So the amount of salary to be paid as of this day is
2400x3= 7200. If we assume Wednesday is the last day of the fiscal period, the following
adjusting entry is needed.
Salary expense----------------------------7200
Salary payable-------------------7200
1. What term is used to describe a delay of the recognition of an expense already paid or of
revenue already received?
2. What term is used to describe an expense that has not been paid or revenue that has not
been received?
3. Where would (a) accrued expenses and (b) accrued revenues, both due with in a year,
appear on the balance sheet?
4. Classify the following items as (a) prepaid expenses, (b) unearned revenue, (c) accrued
expense, or (d) accrued revenue
1. Utilities owed but not yet paid
2. Fees received but not yet earned
TTLM Development Manual Date: October 12,2013
Compiled by: KH Acct department
Axum poly technique college
Training, Teaching and Learning Materials
Solution
1. Deferral
2. Accrual
3. Current asset section
4. 1. Accrued expense
2. Unearned revenue
3. Accrued expense
4. Accrued revenue
5. Accrued revenue
6. Accrued expense
7. Unearned revenue
8. Prepaid expenses
9. Prepaid expenses
10. Unearned revenue
2. On June 30, the end of its fiscal year, an enterprise owed salaries of $ 12,500 for an
incomplete payroll period. On the first payday on July, salaries of $ 20,900 are paid; (a)
Is the $ 12,500 a deferral or an accrual as of June 30?
(b) Which of the following types of accounts will be affected by the related adjusting entry:
(1) assets (2) liability, (3) revenue, (4) expense?
3. On January 2, an enterprise receives $ 24,000 from a tenant as rent for the current calendar
year. The fiscal year of the enterprise is from April 1 to March 31.
(a) Which of the following types of accounts will be affected by the adjusting entry as of
March 31: (1) assets (2) Liabilities, (3) revenue, (4) expense?
(b) How much of the $ 24,000 rent should be allocated to the current fiscal year ending
March 31?
Solution
1. A. Office Supplies Expense……………………………….64,290
Office Supplies…………………………………… 64,290
B. Unearned Rent…………………………………………16,200
Rent Revenue…………………………………….. 16,200
C. Royalty receivable……………………………………..4,500
Royalty revenue………………………………….. 4,500
2. A. Accrual
B. Liabilities and Expense