HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Avoo.com provides meta search results from various sources

Accounting_equation


Google




The basic accounting equation is the foundation for the double-entry bookkeeping system. It shows how assets were financed: either by borrowing money from someone else (liability) or by paying your own money (shareholder\'s equity).

\mbox{Assets} = \mbox{Liabilities} + \mbox{(Shareholders or Owners equity)}Meigs and Meigs. Financial Accounting, Fourth Edition. McGraw-Hill, 1983. p.19.

Contents

How it works

For example, say a student buys a computer for $945. This student borrowed $500 from his best friend and saved another $445 from his part-time job. Now his assets are worth $945, liabilities are $500, and equity $445.

The formula can be re-written:

\mbox{Assets} - \mbox{Liabilities} = \mbox{(Shareholders or Owners equity)}Meigs and Meigs.Financial Accounting, Fourth Edition. McGraw-Hill, 1983. p.20.

Also the equation can be re-written as Assets= Liabilities + Owners Equity(Revenue - Expenses). This is often referred to as the expanded accounting equation because it yields the breakdown of the equity component of the equation. Wild.Financial Accounting, Third Edition.McGraw-Hill, 2005. p.13

Now it shows that owner\'s interest is equal to property (assets) minus debts (liabilities). Since in a company owners are shareholders, owner\'s interest is called shareholder\'s equity. Every accounting transaction affects at least one element of the equation, but always balances. Simplest transactions also include:Accounting equation explanation with examples, accountingcoach.com.

Transaction
Number
Assets Liabilities Shareholder\'s
Equity
Explanation
1 + 6,000 + 6,000 Issuing stocks for cash or other assets
2 + 10,000 + 10,000 Buying assets by borrowing money (taking a loan from a bank or simply buying on credit)
3 - 900 - 900 Selling assets for cash (in essence, it\'s just an exchange of one asset to another)
4 + 1,000 + 450 + 550 Buying assets by paying cash (550) and by borrowing money (450)
5 + 700 + 700 Earning revenues
6 - 200 - 200 Paying expenses (e.g. rent or professional fees) or dividends
7 + 100 - 100 Recording expenses, but not paying them at the moment
8 - 500 - 500 Paying a debt that you owe
9 - 200 - 200 Receiving cash for sale of an asset

These are some simple examples, but even the most complicated transactions can be recorded in a similar way. This equation is behind debits, credits, and journal entries.

Balance sheet

An elaborate form of this equation is presented in a balance sheet which lists all assets, liabilities, and equity and makes sure it balances (thus its name).

History

Luca Pacioli is notable for including the first published description of the method of keeping accounts that Venetian merchants used during the Italian Renaissance, known as the double-entry accounting system. Also, David Flath[citation needed] asserts that Japanese merchants have used double-entry accounting for centuries:

assets= liabilities+capital+ additional investments + revenue or income - withdrawals -expenses or losses

References

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia


Advertise with Us | Search Marketing | Help | Suggest a Site | Privacy Policy
© 2008 www.avoo.com. All rights reserved.