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Accounts Preparation 2 Tip sheet
MarkT
Trusted RegularRegistered Posts: 302
Hi Folks,
Having seen some of the recent posts on this sub-forum, it seems that there are some people that that either miss an element from their tutor or it escapes them, from a variety of reasons.
Before I carry on here, I would like to draw your attention to the following:
A forum thread as this is not a direct replacement or substitute for the classroom element or reading of the manuals and workbooks as set out by your current learning service providers/colleges. It is meant as nothing more than a helpful tip to students who are needing maybe a different angle to help overcome a misunderstood element
Missing information
A lot of the questions work around areas within the accounting equation.
Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) for example are worked out in the form of Opening stock + purchases - closing stock = COGS
Remember that a lot of the questions are given in a form that means we work one part out and keep it to help with the next and so on. So, it is imperative that this part is mastered as otherwise, you will not succeed in getting the rest of the question correct.
There is also the issue of reconstruction of control accounts. This is relatively simple but it does mean going back and remembering where we start, for example when recreating a sales or purchase ledger control account. It is worth noting that the AAT CBA will advise you of whether or not the account has a debit or credit balance when reconstructing a VAT account - Again, they will advise you of the opening balance of a bank account - usually by filling in the starting entry and then by process of placing each of the items into the control account, we will be left with a figure that, (as long as all items are placed correctly) will give you the figure you're seeking to answer the question. Of course, if you start a sales ledger control account with a credit balance, you're going to have some problems.
Mark Ups and Margins
These two seem to bring a lot of confusion and below is a prime example as to why, so its worthwhile attributing to PGM a valid point that when dealing with a clients figures that you know which one you are working with
Mark up
cost of sales 100% £1680
Profit + 25% £420
Sales = 125% £2100
These same figures but in a different manner:
Margin
cost of sales 80% £1680
Profit 20% £420
Sales = 100% £2100
a mark up is pretty simple in working out whereas the cogs are always 100% and you simply multiply by the needed % to give a profit and add it on. Margin is slightly different and requires a method - there are plenty of ideas out there for this, I simply take the required profit % and first deduct it from 100 and then divide by 100 to give me the decimal to divide my cogs by - this then gives me the sales figure - try it above 100-20 / 100 = .8 so, £1680 / .8 = £2100
Format for Statement of Financial Position
A lot of this is just learning technique in layout.
Starting from the TB you list the non current asset(s) at cost, then the accumulated depreciation and then work out the net Non current asset balance. The next part does have minimal variations and but as long as you list assets and liabilities in their order of liquidity, you will be fine as below:
Here, I would like to credit this little tip from a forum member Yazi who posted this a few weeks back
These will then to be followed by
Liabilities
PLCA
Accruals
Bank (overdraft)
VAT (owing to HMRC)
The balance of net liabilities is taken from net assets and hopefully leaves a positive figure
Add this to the total non-current asset amount and you have total net assets.
After this, we must then list non-current liabilities e.g Bank Loan
Partnerships
A lot of the issues with partnerships will usually centre around the creation of a goodwill statement for when a partner retires or maybe there is a decision to increase one partners % of the profits and effectively reduce another.
So, if we are to take an example that three partners are in business and they share profits as Partner 1 50%, Partner 2 30% and partner 3 20%. Their capital account balances are: Partner 1 £80000, Partner 2 £60000 and Partner 3 £40000.
They decide to change the partnership as the third partner has decided to place more time in the business but has decided to not introduce more capital.
It is decided that the new agreement will mean that the partnership will now share profits as 45, 25 and 30% respectively.
The simplest answer is effectively that out of his capital, partner 3 is going to buy his increase of potential profit share. Also, the risk goes that he may also pay out of his capital account and next year take a bigger hit if the partnership makes a loss.
To work it out, we must create the goodwill account for this exercise Goodwill has been decided as an amount of £80000.
The goodwill must be started as a debit for Partner 1 £40000, Partner 2 £24000 and Partner 3 £16000. The double entry is then to credit these amounts to the partner’s capital accounts.
This will mean Partner 1’s account now has a balance of £120000, Partner 2’s account is £84000 and Partner 3’s is £56000.
Next we have to close the goodwill account by crediting the goodwill and debiting the capital accounts in the new ratio. Effectively credit goodwill Partner 1 £36000, Partner 2 £20000 and partner 3 £24000.
Then debiting the capital accounts leaves them looking as Partner 1 £84000, Partner 2 £64000 and partner 3 £32000.
As long as you start the goodwill account from the debit side, you should not go wrong.
This is what I’ve seen so far as the confusions on this exam, if there are other parts, please let me know and I shall help to try and explain it as best I can.
Should anyone spot anything here that looks incorrect then please by all means let me know. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the partnership example above was an example I made up and if this does appear in text somewhere, again, please let me know as I am not attributing this piece to any particular author.
Hope it helps someone :001_smile:
Having seen some of the recent posts on this sub-forum, it seems that there are some people that that either miss an element from their tutor or it escapes them, from a variety of reasons.
Before I carry on here, I would like to draw your attention to the following:
A forum thread as this is not a direct replacement or substitute for the classroom element or reading of the manuals and workbooks as set out by your current learning service providers/colleges. It is meant as nothing more than a helpful tip to students who are needing maybe a different angle to help overcome a misunderstood element
Missing information
A lot of the questions work around areas within the accounting equation.
Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) for example are worked out in the form of Opening stock + purchases - closing stock = COGS
Remember that a lot of the questions are given in a form that means we work one part out and keep it to help with the next and so on. So, it is imperative that this part is mastered as otherwise, you will not succeed in getting the rest of the question correct.
There is also the issue of reconstruction of control accounts. This is relatively simple but it does mean going back and remembering where we start, for example when recreating a sales or purchase ledger control account. It is worth noting that the AAT CBA will advise you of whether or not the account has a debit or credit balance when reconstructing a VAT account - Again, they will advise you of the opening balance of a bank account - usually by filling in the starting entry and then by process of placing each of the items into the control account, we will be left with a figure that, (as long as all items are placed correctly) will give you the figure you're seeking to answer the question. Of course, if you start a sales ledger control account with a credit balance, you're going to have some problems.
Mark Ups and Margins
These two seem to bring a lot of confusion and below is a prime example as to why, so its worthwhile attributing to PGM a valid point that when dealing with a clients figures that you know which one you are working with
Mark up
cost of sales 100% £1680
Profit + 25% £420
Sales = 125% £2100
These same figures but in a different manner:
Margin
cost of sales 80% £1680
Profit 20% £420
Sales = 100% £2100
a mark up is pretty simple in working out whereas the cogs are always 100% and you simply multiply by the needed % to give a profit and add it on. Margin is slightly different and requires a method - there are plenty of ideas out there for this, I simply take the required profit % and first deduct it from 100 and then divide by 100 to give me the decimal to divide my cogs by - this then gives me the sales figure - try it above 100-20 / 100 = .8 so, £1680 / .8 = £2100
Format for Statement of Financial Position
A lot of this is just learning technique in layout.
Starting from the TB you list the non current asset(s) at cost, then the accumulated depreciation and then work out the net Non current asset balance. The next part does have minimal variations and but as long as you list assets and liabilities in their order of liquidity, you will be fine as below:
Here, I would like to credit this little tip from a forum member Yazi who posted this a few weeks back
I remember Assets like this : Sit Down Pretty Black Cat.....
Stock = Sit
SLCA = Down (Debtors)
Prepayments = Pretty
Bank = Black
Cash = Cat
These will then to be followed by
Liabilities
PLCA
Accruals
Bank (overdraft)
VAT (owing to HMRC)
The balance of net liabilities is taken from net assets and hopefully leaves a positive figure
Add this to the total non-current asset amount and you have total net assets.
After this, we must then list non-current liabilities e.g Bank Loan
Partnerships
A lot of the issues with partnerships will usually centre around the creation of a goodwill statement for when a partner retires or maybe there is a decision to increase one partners % of the profits and effectively reduce another.
So, if we are to take an example that three partners are in business and they share profits as Partner 1 50%, Partner 2 30% and partner 3 20%. Their capital account balances are: Partner 1 £80000, Partner 2 £60000 and Partner 3 £40000.
They decide to change the partnership as the third partner has decided to place more time in the business but has decided to not introduce more capital.
It is decided that the new agreement will mean that the partnership will now share profits as 45, 25 and 30% respectively.
The simplest answer is effectively that out of his capital, partner 3 is going to buy his increase of potential profit share. Also, the risk goes that he may also pay out of his capital account and next year take a bigger hit if the partnership makes a loss.
To work it out, we must create the goodwill account for this exercise Goodwill has been decided as an amount of £80000.
The goodwill must be started as a debit for Partner 1 £40000, Partner 2 £24000 and Partner 3 £16000. The double entry is then to credit these amounts to the partner’s capital accounts.
This will mean Partner 1’s account now has a balance of £120000, Partner 2’s account is £84000 and Partner 3’s is £56000.
Next we have to close the goodwill account by crediting the goodwill and debiting the capital accounts in the new ratio. Effectively credit goodwill Partner 1 £36000, Partner 2 £20000 and partner 3 £24000.
Then debiting the capital accounts leaves them looking as Partner 1 £84000, Partner 2 £64000 and partner 3 £32000.
As long as you start the goodwill account from the debit side, you should not go wrong.
This is what I’ve seen so far as the confusions on this exam, if there are other parts, please let me know and I shall help to try and explain it as best I can.
Should anyone spot anything here that looks incorrect then please by all means let me know. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the partnership example above was an example I made up and if this does appear in text somewhere, again, please let me know as I am not attributing this piece to any particular author.
Hope it helps someone :001_smile:
3
Comments
That is fantastic
Even though I have passed AP2 I will read the tip sheet later.
Thank you for your time in compiling this.
All the best.
JC
You are amazing, this must have taken ages but is so useful. Fingers crossed for the 27th
Jan
Fingers and toes crossed for you!!
Don't forget to subscribe to the thread (although by replying I think you are subscribed automatically)
It can't be long till you start Level 4 now?
JC
Good luck for the 27th Jan - you shouldn't have any problems I'd have thought
How's study going for you, have you started level 4. Got CMGT and CRS still to do on level 3.
Level 4 starts in September, having a bit of a prob at mo as they don't know if the day course will run due to numbers and don't think I could manage the night one, would mean leaving home 2 days a week at 7am and gettting back @ 10.40 pm. Will have to wait and see.
Jan
Yes - Have the optional papers and project to complete. Financial Performance results are due in the next week or so... so fingers crossed
I do hope that they run the day course for you, if not are there any other training providers that you could consider attending? I guess if it came to it, you could self study and everyone here will help and support you. I know how hard going doing evening class is as I completed foundation level, now level 2, over two evenings a week and that made for a long day not getting home till later like you mentioned.
Anyway, best not hijack this thread any further.
JC
Hope you had a fab birthday.
You really should look at tutoring - you have missed your vocation :thumbup1:
Su
I am happy to have been of help. If there is something that I've missed that you need a hand on, please do not hesitate to ask :001_smile:
Sitting AP2 on 13th April and have barely even studied at all yet as i have been going through the process of reapplying for my job!
Interview on Monday, then will hopefully get a good clear run at it
Good luck with the interview celticghirl
I have just been through something similar - my current role no longer exists as they have restructured the department, however I was successful in securing a new post.
Let us know how you get on.
JC
And as Jo has said, please do let us know how you got on.
I too am prepping for an interview tomorrow, so understand the pressure :001_smile:
Good luck Mark, what job are you going for?
Cheers Jo, I'm going for a senior AP role with a large local company - its a fingers crossed thing :001_smile:
I'll have my fingers crossed for you tomorrow Mark! Let us know how it goes. I'm sure others who are looking for accountancy roles would appreciate feedback from you and also the type of questions which you are asked.
Just wanted to say Thanks for this tip sheet. I read this just before my AP2 exam last month, and found it really useful.
Many Thanks,
Paula
Your first post used to say that? I am honoured :001_smile: I'm glad it helped you
You're very welcome
Mark
Its all in the air right now and seeing that we have 2 short weeks back to back at this point, I may be lucky to hear back next week, but would almost certainly find out the week after.
Questions, well, they were more arranged around the job spec that I was given and wanted to know where I had exposure to the areas mentioned. Oddly enough, I had no competency based questions asked of me for the role and I am putting this down to the fact that I laid on heavy of my understanding of the role, explained the areas of weakness that I had and how, through being an AAT student that I was to be addressing the one weak area in the next month (VAT knowledge)
In essence, I think that there are no hard and fast questions that come out in every interview, the strength of the CV alone got me the interview as I had shown relevant experience.
I shall however, be submitting some more to the AAT for consideration of a blog form - watch this space
Good on ya!! I see that you're on SPSW - good luck for the exam :001_smile:
You're welcome, but the thanks really should go to Yazi who gave me that neat little tip :thumbup:
Glad that you found it useful :001_smile:
You're more than welcome, the only advice as to passing it first time really is to do the greenlight tests and take your time on the exam to read the questions and ensure that you answer them as to the best of your knowledge.
I also might add that I find no shame in being one of the last to leave the exam room, I'm never the first out
But, goodluck for when you sit :thumbup:
Do you have one for AP1 by any chance?
Cheers
Martyn
Hi Martyn,
I've not written one up for this, but will consider it if there is enough of a call - I'll put a thread up and see if there is, if not, then I can respond to questions if you post them
Mark
Think I focused my revision too much on SFP and IS, clearly not enough on Goodwill (goodwill for a partner introduced is fine, but not looked at the goodwill account itself).
I also messed up my reconstruction of control accounts. I got myself in a muddle with the PLCA, narrative was Purchases Day Book and I put the gross figure instead of seperate Purchases and VAT
Really annoyed with myself
Does anyone know what the resit exam fee is?