Profit and loss

Richard Bowett introduces the important concept of the profit and loss account:
Introduction - the Meaning of Profit
The starting point in understanding the profit and loss account is to be clear about the meaning of "profit".
Profit is the incentive for business; without profit people wouldn't’t bother. Profit is the reward for taking risk; generally speaking high risk = high reward (or loss if it goes wrong) and low risk = low reward. People won’t take risks without reward. All business is risky (some more than others) so no reward means no business. No business means no jobs, no salaries and no goods and services.
This is an important but simple point. It is often forgotten when people complain about excessive profits and rewards, or when there are appeals for more taxes to pay for eg more policemen on the streets.
Profit also has an important role in allocating resources (land, labour, capital and enterprise). Put simply, falling profits (as in a business coming to an end eg black-and-white TVs) signal that resources should be taken out of that business and put into another one; rising profits signal that resources should be moved into this business. Without these signals we are left to guess as to what is the best use of society’s scarce resources.
People sometimes say that government should decide (or at least decide more often) how much of this or that to make, but the evidence is that governments usually do a bad job of this e.g. the Dome.
The Task of Accounting - Measuring Profit
The main task of accounts, therefore, is to monitor and measure profits.
Profit = Revenue less Costs
So monitoring profit also means monitoring and measuring revenue and costs. There are two parts to this:-
1) Recording financial data. This is the ‘book-keeping’ part of accounting.
2) Measuring the result. This is the ‘financial’ part of accounting. If we say ‘profits are high’ this begs the question ‘high compared to what?’ (You can look at this idea in more detail when covering Ratio Analysis)
Profits are ‘spent’ in three ways.
1) Retained for future investment and growth.2) Returned to owners eg a ‘dividend’.3) Paid as tax.
Parts of the Profit and Loss Account
The Profit & Loss Account aims to monitor profit. It has three parts.
1) The Trading Account.
This records the money in (revenue) and out (costs) of the business as a result of the business’ ‘trading’ ie buying and selling. This might be buying raw materials and selling finished goods; it might be buying goods wholesale and selling them retail. The figure at the end of this section is the Gross Profit.
2) The Profit and Loss Account proper
This starts with the Gross Profit and adds to it any further costs and revenues, including overheads. These further costs and revenues are from any other activities not directly related to trading. An example is income received from investments.
3) The Appropriation Account. This shows how the profit is ‘appropriated’ or divided between the three uses mentioned above.
Uses of the Profit and Loss Account.
1) The main use is to monitor and measure profit, as discussed above. This assumes that the information recording is accurate. Significant problems can arise if the information is inaccurate, either through incompetence or deliberate fraud.
2) Once the profit(loss) has been accurately calculated, this can then be used for comparison ie judging how well the business is doing compared to itself in the past, compared to the managers’ plans and compared to other businesses.
3) There are ways to ‘fix’ accounts. Internal accounts are rarely ‘fixed’, because there is little point in the managers fooling themselves (unless fraud is going on) but public accounts are routinely ‘fixed’ to create a good impression out to the outside world. If you understand accounts, you can usually (not always) spot these ‘fixes’ and take them out to get a true picture.
Example Profit and Loss Account:
An example profit and loss account is provided below:
£'000 £'000
Revenue 12,500 10,000
Cost of Sales 7,500 6,000
Gross Profit 5,000 4,000
Gross profit margin (gross profit / revenue) 40% 40%
Operating Costs
Sales and distribution 1,260 1,010
Finance and administration 570 555
Other overheads 970 895
Depreciation 235 210
Total Operating Costs 3,035 2,670
Operating Profit (gross profit less operating costs) 1,965 1,330
Operating profit margin (operating profit / revenue) 15.7% 13.3%
Interest (450) (475)
Profit before Tax 1,515 855
Taxation (455) (255)
Profit after Tax 1,060 600
Dividends 650 400
Retained Profits 410 200 0 nhận xét

Người đăng: Sophie vào lúc 13:52

Balance sheet

In our introduction to the methods available to calculate depreciation, we suggested that there are two main methods that can be used:
- Straight- line depreciation
- Reducing balance method
We emphasised the point that these two methods simply provide an alternative way of allocating the total depreciation charge over several accounting periods. The total depreciation charge using either method will be the same over the total useful economic life of the asset.
To illustrate the straight line depreciation method, we have calculated the depreciation charge for the following asset:
Data
A business purchases a new machine for £75,000 on 1 January 2003. It is estimated that the machine will have a residual value of £10,000 and a useful economic life of five years. The business has an accounting year end of 31 December.
Straight line depreciation method
Using the straight line depreciation method, the calculation of the annual depreciation charge is as follows:
Dpn = (C- R)/ N
where:
Dpn = Annual straight-line depreciation charge
C = Cost of the assetR = Residual value of the assetN = Useful economic life of the asset (years)
So the calculation is:
Dpn = (£75,000 - £10,000) / 5
Dpn = £13,000
in the accounts of the business a depreciation charge of £13,000 will be expensed in the profit and loss account for each of the five years of the asset's useful economic life.
In the annual balance sheet, the machine would be shown at its original cost less the total accumulated depreciation for the asset to date.
Example of how this would be disclosed in the accounts
At the end of the third year of ownership of the machine, the financial accounts of the business would include the following items in relation to the machine:
In the Profit and Loss Account:
Depreciation of Machinery - Charge: £13,000
In the Balance Sheet at 31 December 2005:
Machine at Cost 75,000
less: Accumulated Depreciation 39,000
Machine at net book value 36,000
The figure for accumulated depreciation of £39,000 at 31 December 2005 represents three years' worth of depreciation at £13,000 per year.
The cost of the machine (£75,000) less the accumulated depreciation charged on the machine (£39,000) is known as the "written-down value" ("WDV") or "net book value" ("NBV").
it should be noted that WDV or NBV is simply an accounting value that is the result of a decision about which method is used to calculate depreciation. It does not necessarily mean that the machine is actually worth more or less than the WDV or NBV. 0 nhận xét

Người đăng: Sophie vào lúc 13:52

Annual Report

• An annual report is a document produced annually by companies designed to portray a true and fair view of the company’s annual performance, with audited financial statements prepared in accordance with company law and other regulatory requirements, and also containing other non-financial information.• The Companies Act 1985/9 requires companies to publish their annual report and accounts.• It should include:– A balance sheet– A profit and loss account– A cash flow statement– A Directors Report
Stakeholders in the annual report• Shareholders (the owners of the business).• Potential shareholders.• Managers and employees.• Creditors and potential creditors.• Suppliers – especially if the supply goods on credit.• Employees and their trade unions.• The government – for tax purposes.
Functions of the annual report• The stewardship and accountability function– Reporting to shareholders.• The decision making function– To provide information about performance and changes in the financial position of an enterprise that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions.– Providing users, especially shareholders with financial information so that they can make decisions such as buying or selling shares.• The public relations function– The annual report is an opportunity to publicise the corporate image
A true and fair view• Directors are responsible for the preparation of the accounts which must give a true and fair view.• A true and fair view is one where accounts reflect what has happened and do not mislead the readers.• The accounts must be prepared in accordance with relevant accounting standards.
Information to be included • The rules governing the content of the annual report are derived from:• Statute law - the Companies Act • Accounting standards• Stock Exchange rules• Codes of best practice in corporate governance.
Companies Act 1985/9• Directors have stewardship of limited companies.• Directors are required to publish accounts which show a true and fair view of the company’s financial position.• Accounts must be sent to:– All shareholders– All debenture holders– The Registrar of Companies at Companies House.– This must be done within 10 months of the year-end for a private company and within 7 months of the year end in the case of a public company 0 nhận xét

Người đăng: Sophie vào lúc 13:51