Financial accounting is one such concept that a finance aspirant must be well-acquainted with.
If not, let us take you through a quick guide to explore what financial accounting is!
Financial accounting is the process of recording expenses and earnings, summarising them, and reporting those transactions within a specified period. This branch of accounting works across ethical and accurate management of financial records that any individual, company or organisation is responsible for.
From accounting revenues and expenses to keeping records of assets and liabilities, financial accounting oversees all sorts of financial transactions. While maintaining a neat record, effective financial accounting can help individuals and businesses navigate their expenses and resort to better economic practices in the long run.
While financial accounting is a part of our daily lives, only qualified professionals are sought to manage this domain. Experts with qualifications like a KASNEB CERTIFIED COURSE or CA are best suited to take responsibility for this critical area.
A financial period can span from weeks, to months, to quarters or even calendar years. However, the financial transactions are typically prepared and reported at the end of 12 months, which may vary based on country, industry and company size. This gives an idea about the financial success or failure of any organisation.
A Beginner's Blog to Basics of Financial Accounting
Assets are controlled and owned by business organisations for their future usage. These are tangible items like cash and intangibles like patents, goodwill and copyrights. Fixed assets comprise machinery, vehicles, buildings or even the land on which the business is established.
Liabilities comprise the amount of money which the organisation or any person owns. The standard form of liability is accounts payable, which is short-term. This refers to the promise of paying the other party for a product or service. Long-term liabilities refer to mortgages in business.
Equities refer to the claims which are made by the owners on the assets. This is done after all the debts are paid off. In order to apply for the CMA exam, a basic understanding of these key aspects is a necessity.
This is the money that the company makes from regular business operations. The income refers to the taxes, interest payments, or different financial activities done before accounting for the expenditures.
Expenses comprise the money which is spent on regular business operations. You can calculate the expenses before accounting for the income or the revenues generated by your company.
Profit: Income> Expenses
Loss: Income< Expenses
There are three golden rules of accounting:
This is applied to the company's existing accounts, which consider both tangible and intangible assets. The capital of the company is considered a liability and can be used as a credit balance.
Individuals use personal accounts for their own needs. When an artificial entity donates, it becomes an inflow for a company. The receiver is debited, and the company is credited in the accounting books.
This is applied to nominal accounts- which have accounting transactions for a year. This is where tangible accounts are taken into consideration.
A basic question in your CMA certification exam can be asked about the equation for financial accounting:
Assets= Liabilities+ Capital of the owner- Drawings made by owner+Revenues-Expenses
An accounting cycle refers to a chain of steps that accountants navigate to record, summarise and report financial transactions of any organisation.
The different steps of maintaining and managing the company’s financial systems of an accounting cycle are-
The five basic principles of financial accounting that a financial accountant must learn are:-
Revenues are recognised by the income statement of the company.
The acquisition price of the assets being purchased needs to be kept in an orderly fashion in the business expenses.
The revenues should be matched with the expenses in the same accounting period.
Financial statements should be complete and not misleading any of the stakeholders associated with the business.
Accountability and accuracy are two vital principles during the accounting and recording of financial statements.
Here we conclude some of the basic principles of financial accounting that all aspirants must be familiar with. While these are the core concepts, stepping up to further build your knowledge trove is essential to keep up with the changing trends and introduced financial technologies.
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