Financial accountancy

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Accounting

Financial accounting Management accounting Tax accounting
Major types of accounting Auditing Cost Forensic Financial Fund Governmental Management Social Tax
Key concepts Accounting period Accrual Constant purchasing power Economic entity Fair value Going concern Historical cost Matching principle Materiality Revenue recognition Unit of account
Selected accounts Assets Cash Cost of goods sold Depreciation / Amortization Equity Expenses Goodwill Liabilities Profit Revenue
Accounting standards Generally-accepted principles Generally-accepted auditing standards Convergence International Financial Reporting Standards International Standards on Auditing Management Accounting Principles
Financial statements Annual report Balance sheet Cash-flow Income Management discussion Notes to the financial statements
Bookkeeping Bank reconciliation Debits and credits Double-entry system FIFO and LIFO Journal Ledger / General ledger T accounts Trial balance
Auditing Financial Internal Firms Report
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Financial Accountancy (or financial accounting) is the field of accountancy concerned with the preparation of financial statements for decision makers, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, employees, government agencies, owners, and other stakeholders. Financial capital maintenance can be measured in either nominal monetary units or units of constant purchasing power.^[1] The fundamental need for financial accounting is to reduce principal–agent problem by measuring and monitoring agents' performance and reporting the results to interested users.

Financial accountancy is used to prepare accounting information for people outside the organization or not involved in the day-to-day running of the company. Management accounting provides accounting information to help managers make decisions to manage the business.

In short, financial accounting is the process of summarizing financial data taken from an organization's accounting records and publishing in the form of annual (or more frequent) reports for the benefit of people outside the organization.

Financial accountancy is governed by both local and international accounting standards.

Basic accounting concepts

Financial accountants produce financial statements based on the accounting standards in a given jurisdiction. These standards may be the generally accepted accounting principles of a respective country, which are typically issued by a national standard setter, or International Financial Reporting Standards, which are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

Financial accounting serves the following purposes:

producing general purpose financial statements
producing information used by the management of a business entity for decision making, planning and performance evaluation
producing financial statements for meeting regulatory requirements.

Objectives of Financial Accounting

SYSTEMATIC RECORDING OF TRANSACTION – Basic objective of accounting is to systematically record the financial aspects of business transaction i.e. book-keeping. These recorded transactions are later on classified and summarized logically for the preparation of financial statements and for their analysis and interpretation.

ASCERTAINMENT OF RESULT OF ABOVE RECORDED TRANSACTIONS – Accountant prepares profit and loss account to know the result of business operations for a particular period of time. If revenue exceed expenses then it is said that business running under loss. The profit and loss account helps the management and different stakeholders in taking rational decisions. For example, if business is not proved to be remunerative or profitable, the cause of such a state of affair can be investigated by the management for taking remedial steps.

ASCERTAINMENT OF THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF BUSINESS – businessman is not only interested in knowing the result of the business in terms of profits or loss for a particular period but is also anxious to know that what he owes (liability) to the outsiders and what he owns (assets) on a certain date. To know this, accountant prepares a financial position statement of assets and liabilities of the business at a particular point of time and helps in ascertaining the financial health of the business.

PROVIDING INFORMATION TO THE USERS FOR RATIONAL DECISION-MAKING – Accounting as a ‘language of business’ communicates the financial result of an enterprise to various stakeholders by means of financial statements. Accounting aims to meet the financial information needs of the decision-makers and helps them in rational decision-making.

TO KNOW THE SOLVENCY POSITION – By preparing the balance sheet, management not only reveals what is owned and owed by the enterprise, but also it gives the information regarding concern’s ability to meet its liabilities in the short run (liquidity position) and also in the long-run (solvency position) as and when they fall due.

Graphic definition

The accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities + Owners' Equity) and financial statements are the main topics of financial accounting.

The trial balance which is usually prepared using the double-entry accounting system forms the basis for preparing the financial statements. All the figures in the trial balance are rearranged to prepare a profit & loss statement and balance sheet. Accounting standards determine the format for these accounts (SSAP, FRS, IFRS). Financial statements display the income and expenditure for the company and a summary of the assets, liabilities, and shareholders' or owners' equity of the company on the date to which the accounts were prepared.

Assets, Expenses, and dividends have normal debit balances, i.e., debiting these types of accounts increases them.

Liabilities, revenues, and capital have normal credit balances, i.e., crediting these increases them.

0 = Dr Assets                            Cr Owners' Equity                 Cr Liabilities  
          .       _____________________________/\____________________________       .
          .      /    Cr Retained Earnings (profit)         Cr Common Stock  \      .
          .    _________________/\_______________________________      .            .
          .   / Dr Expenses       Cr Beginning Retained Earnings \     .            .
          .     Dr Dividends      Cr Revenue                           .            .
      \________________________/  \______________________________________________________/
       increased by debits           increased by credits


          Crediting a credit                         
Thus -------------------------> account increases its absolute value (balance)
           Debiting a debit                             


          Debiting a credit                         
Thus -------------------------> account decreases its absolute value (balance)
          Crediting a debit

When the same thing is done to an account as its normal balance it increases; when the opposite is done, it will decrease. Much like signs in math: two positive numbers are added and two negative numbers are also added. It is only when there is one positive and one negative (opposites) that you will subtract.

Financial Accounting VS Cost Accounting

Financial accounting aims at finding out results of accounting year in the form of Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet. Cost Accounting aims at computing cost of production/service in a scientific manner and facilitate cost control and cost reduction.
Financial accounting reports the results and position of business to government, creditors, investors, and external parties.
Cost Accounting is an internal reporting system for an organization’s own management for decision making.
In financial accounting, cost classification based on type of transactions, e.g. salaries, repairs, insurance, stores etc. In cost accounting, classification is basically on the basis of functions, activities, products, process and on internal planning and control and information needs of the organization.
Financial accounting aims at presenting ‘true and fair’ view of transactions, profit and loss for a period and Statement of financial position (Balance Sheet) on a given date. It aims at computing ‘true and fair’ view of the cost of production/services offered by the firm.^[2]

Related qualification

Many professional accountancy qualifications cover the field of financial accountancy, including Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA or other national designations) and Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).

References

↑ Framework, Par 104 (a)
↑ Cost and Management Accounting. Intermediate. The Institute of Cost Accountants of India. p. 17.

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