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Chapter 5 brings together what you have learned in the previous chapters. In this chapter we review the overall
accounting process and accounting cycle. The weekly exam is replaced with a midterm exam covering the first 4
week's material.
GAAP gives us guidance as to what should be included in the financial statements, and how things should be
reported and disclosed. The financial statements must include three specific reports, and notes that describe and
disclose certain additional information.
Although GAAP gives us guidance, it also allows for a considerable amount of flexibility in presenting financial
information. The Notes must accompany the other financial information, and includes disclosure about accounting
principles, lawsuits, lease obligations, concentrations of receivables, and other information the FASB considers
necessary for adequate disclosure of important information.
Page 191 of your text has a good illustration of the accounting cycle.
After completing the TB Worksheet, all that is left to do is transfer the information from the Income Statement and
Balance Sheet columns to their respective financial statements, in the correct format. The worksheet greatly
simplifies the process of preparing financial statements. It is also used by auditors when conducting an examination
or review of a company's books.
The Income Statement should be prepared first. Net Income or Net Loss flows to the Statement of Retained Earnings
(or Statement of Stockholders’ Equity). The ending balance of Retained Earnings flows to the Stockholder’s Equity
section of the Balance Sheet.
Have you ever seen an automobile odometer that had a trip odometer, with a button you can push to set the trip
odometer to zero? When you want to measure your mileage you can press the button, reset the odometer to zero,
then drive to your destination. The trip odometer will tell you how far you've driven. Then you can reset it again for
the next trip.
Closing the accounts is very similar. We close the income statement accounts so we can start counting again for a
new year. These accounts are all the revenue and expense accounts, and they make up the total we call Net Income.
General Ledger
Insurance Expense
Date Description Debit Credit Balance
Dec-31 year end balance $1000
Dec-31 year end closing entry $1000 $0
Here we see the Insurance Expense ledger account. It has a debit balance of $1000. The closing entry credits the
account, and brings the balance to zero. The account is now ready to begin entering transactions for the new year.
We will close all revenue and expense accounts. We will leave all balance sheet accounts alone, except for the
dividend accounts, which closes directly to Retained Earnings.
All revenues accounts are debited, and the Income Summary account is credited for the total of the debits. Then all
expense accounts are credited, and the Income Summary account is debited for the total of all credits. At this point
all revenue and expense accounts have a zero balance. The balance in Income Summary is equal to the Net Income
or Net Loss for the year.
Finally the Income Summary account has to be closed. We make the entry necessary to bring that account to zero,
and post the opposite side of the entry to the Retained Earnings account. The last entry is to close all dividend
accounts to Retained Earnings. And we are done for the year.
We usually prepare a Post-Closing Trial Balance to make sure all revenue and expense accounts were closed out to
zero, and none remain with a balance. We also check to see that all the account balances are correct, and match with
the TB Worksheet and financial statements we have just prepared. If all is well, we are done for the year, and can
begin entering transactions for the new year.
At this point I usually tell my students about life as an accountant. Since many companies close their books on
December 31, all accountants have to stay and work late on New Year's Eve, and make sure all the adjusting and
closing entries have been made so business can start up on January 1. And if you believe that story I have a bridge
located right on the Mississippi river I’d like to sell you.
Actually, most accountants like to take New Year's Eve off, and they are usually sleeping in late on January 1 as
well. In the real world, financial statements are prepared after the close of the year, often several months later. It is a
time consuming process, and many things need to be done before financial statements can be prepared.
Inventories must be counted and valued. Missing information has to be found. Depreciation and various other
accruals and deferrals must be calculated. Companies with many branches, or those that do business on a global
scale, must gather up the information from all parts of their company, before financial statements can be prepared.
So don't worry, you won't have to work late on New Year's Eve if you become an accountant. Now, tax season....
well, that's another story. And we'll save it for another day.
The textbook gives some good illustrations that show the basic mechanics of the closing process, and the final
outcome. All that's left to do is analyze the financial information, and see what kind of year the company had.
Your text shows a few financial ratios on p. 189. Most chapters from now on will show some financial ratios, that
relate to the specific chapter topics. Chapter 14 of the text recaps all the financial ratios presented in the text. you
can see them all on pp 628-29.
These ratios are used by investors and financial analysts on a daily basis. These are nothing new, and are not difficult
to use. All you have to do is carefully follow the instructions and formula. Financial ratios can help you understand
how your business is doing from year to year, and can also help you compare one business to another.