1. Introduction to Financial Accounting 8th Edition PowerPoint Presentation
Slides prepared by:
Eddie Metrejean, MTAX, CPA
The University of Mississippi
Images provided by New Vision Technology
nvtech.com

2. Accounting: The Language
Chapter 1
Accounting: The Language
of Business

3. Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain how accounting information assists in making decisions.
Describe the components of the balance sheet.
Analyze business transactions and relate them to changes in the balance sheet.
Classify operating, investing, and financing activities in a cash flow statement.

4. Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Compare features of proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations.
Describe auditing and how it enhances the value of financial information.
Distinguish between public and private accounting.
Evaluate the role of ethics in the accounting process.

5. Introduction
Accounting - a process of identifying, recording, summarizing, and reporting economic information to decision makers in the form of financial statements
Financial accounting - focuses on the specific needs of decision makers external to the organization, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, and government agencies

6. The Nature of Accounting
The accounting system is a series of steps performed to analyze, record, quantify, accumulate, summarize, classify, report, and interpret economic events and their effects on an organization and to prepare the financial statements.

7. The Nature of Accounting
Accounting systems are designed to meet the needs of the decision makers who use the financial information.
Every business maintains some type of accounting system.
These accounting systems may be very complex or very simple, but the real value of any accounting system lies in the information that the system provides.

8. Accounting as an Aid to Decision Making
Accounting information is useful to anyone who makes decisions that have economic results.
Managers want to know if a new product will be profitable.
Owners want to know which employees are productive.
Investors want to know if a company is a good investment.
Legislators want to know how a proposed law will affect budgets.
Creditors want to know if they should extend credit, how much to extend, and for how long.

9. Accounting as an Aid to Decision Making
Accounting helps in decision making by showing where and when money has been spent, by evaluating performance, and by showing the implications of choosing one plan instead of another.
Fundamental relationships in the decision-making process:
Accountant’s
analysis and
recording
Financial
statements
Event
Users

10. Financial and Management Accounting
The major distinction between financial and management accounting is the users of the information.
Financial accounting serves external users, such as investors, creditors, and suppliers.
Management accounting serves internal users, such as top executives, management, and administrators within organizations.

11. Financial and Management Accounting
The primary questions about an organization’s success that decision makers want to know are:
What is the financial picture of the organization on a given day?
How well did the organization do during a given period?

12. Financial and Management Accounting
Accountants answer these primary questions with three major financial statements.
Balance sheet – shows financial picture on a given day
Income statement – shows performance over a given period
Statement of cash flows – shows performance over a given period

13. Financial and Management Accounting
Annual report - a document prepared by management and distributed to current and potential investors to inform them about the company’s past performance and future prospects
The annual report is one of the most common sources of financial information used by investors and managers.

14. Financial and Management Accounting
The annual report usually includes:
A letter from corporate management
A discussion and analysis by management of recent economic events
Footnotes that explain many elements of the financial statements in more detail
The report of the independent auditors
A statement of management’s responsibility for preparation of the financial statements
Other corporate information

15. Financial and Management Accounting
In many cases, annual reports take a long time to produce and are not widely available to people who want them.
The Internet allows companies to have a Web site where they provide direct access to the annual report.

16. The Balance Sheet
The balance sheet shows the financial position of a company at a particular point in time.
The balance sheet is sometimes referred to as the statement of financial position or the statement of financial condition.
The left side lists assets – the right side lists liabilities and owners’ equity

17. The Balance Sheet Assets = Liabilities + Owners’ Equity or
The balance sheet equation:
Assets = Liabilities + Owners’ Equity or
Owners’ Equity = Assets - Liabilities

18. The Balance Sheet Elements of the balance sheet:
Assets - resources of the firm that are expected to increase or cause future cash flows (everything the firm owns)
Liabilities - obligations of the firm to outsiders or claims against its assets by outsiders (debts of the firm)
Owners’ Equity - the residual interest in, or remaining claims against, the firm’s assets after deducting liabilities (rights of the owners)

19. The Balance Sheet STEVENS COMPANY Balance Sheet June 30, 2002
Assets Liabilities
Current assets: Current liabilities:
Cash $ 4, Accounts payable $ 9,800
Accounts receivable , Wages payable ,765
Total current assets $ 6,565 Total liabilities $13,565
Plant assets:
Land $ 9,755
Equipment , Owner’s Equity
Total plant assets 16,255 Hamilton, capital ,255
Total liabilities and
Total assets $22, owner’s equity $22,820
============= =============

20. Balance Sheet Transactions
The balance sheet is affected by every transaction that an entity encounters.
Each transaction has counterbalancing entries that keep total assets equal to total liabilities and owners’ equity, i.e., the balance sheet equation and the balance sheet must always be balanced.

21. Balance Sheet Transactions
A balance sheet could be prepared after every transaction, but this practice would be awkward and unnecessary.
Therefore, balance sheets are usually prepared monthly or on some other periodic schedule.

22. Transaction Analysis
Transactions are recorded in accounts, which are summary records of the changes in particular assets, liabilities, or owners’ equity.
The account balance is the total of all entries to the account.

23. Transaction Analysis For each transaction, the accountant determines:
Which specific accounts are affected
Whether the account balances are increased or decreased
The amount of the change in each account

24. Transaction Analysis Some definitions to remember:
Inventory - goods held by a firm for resale to customers
Account payable - a liability that results from the purchase of goods or services on account
Compound entry - a transaction that affects more than two accounts
Creditor - one to whom money is owed
Debtor - one who owes money

25. Introduction to Statement of Cash Flows
Companies do three basic things.
They invest in assets to conduct business.
They raise money to finance these assets.
They use the assets and the money they raise to operate the business.
These transactions can be classified into one of three categories – operating, investing, and financing activities.

26. Introduction to Statement of Cash Flows
Operating activities – include sale and purchase of goods and payment of items such as rent, taxes, and interest
Investing activities – include acquiring and selling assets and securities held for investment purposes
Financing activities – include obtaining resources from owners and creditors and repaying amounts borrowed

27. Introduction to Statement of Cash Flows
The statement of cash flows gives a direct picture of where cash came from and where cash went.
Preparation of the statement of cash flows
List the activities that increased (inflow) or decreased (outflow) cash.
Place each inflow or outflow into the proper categories.

28. Types of Ownership Three basic forms of ownership:
Sole proprietorships
Partnerships
Corporations

29. Types of Ownership Sole Proprietorship
A separate organization with a single owner
Tend to be small retail establishments and individual professional or service business
The sole proprietorship is an individual entity that is separate and distinct from the personal activities of the owner.

30. Types of Ownership Partnership
An organization that joins two or more individuals who act as co-owners
Dentists, doctors, attorneys, and accountants tend to conduct their activities as partnerships.
The partnership is an individual entity that is separate and distinct from the personal activities of each of the partners.

31. Types of Ownership Corporation
An “artificial entity” created under state laws
Corporations have limited liability - corporate creditors have claims against corporate assets only.
Individual investors are at risk only up to the amount they have invested in the corporation. Creditors cannot hold investors liable for the corporation’s debts.

32. Types of Ownership Corporation
Owners are called shareholders or stockholders.
Publicly owned vs. privately owned corporations
Public - Shares in the ownership are sold to the public on a stock exchange; the corporation can have many thousands of shareholders.
Private - Shares in the ownership are owned by families, small groups of shareholders, or a single shareholder and are not sold to the public.

33. Types of Ownership Management by the owners:
Sole proprietorship - The owner is an active manager in day-to-day operation of the business.
Partnership - Partners are usually active managers in day-to-day operations of the business.
Corporation - Shareholders usually do not participate in the day-to-day operations of the business – shareholders elect a board of directors who hires a management team.

34. Advantages and Disadvantages of Forms of Ownership
Corporations
Advantages
Limited liability
Easy transfer of ownership - shares of stock can be bought and sold easily on stock exchanges
Ease of raising ownership capital because of many potential stockholders
Continuity of existence - life of the corporation continues even if its ownership changes

35. Advantages and Disadvantages of Forms of Ownership
Corporations
Disadvantages
Possibility of double taxation - corporation pays tax at the entity level and its owners pay taxes on distributions of earnings to them

36. Advantages and Disadvantages of Forms of Ownership
Proprietorships and Partnerships
Advantages
No taxation at the entity level - income of sole proprietorship and partnership is attributed to the owners as individual taxpayers

37. Advantages and Disadvantages of Forms of Ownership
Proprietorships and Partnerships
Disadvantages
Unlimited liability - creditors of the business can look to the owners’ personal assets for repayment
Not easy to transfer ownership
Not easy to raise ownership capital with few owners
No continuity of existence - changes in ownership terminate the proprietorship or partnership

38. Accounting for Owners’ Equity
Proprietorships and Partnerships vs. Corporations
Owners’ equities for proprietorships and partnerships are called capital.
Owners’ equity for a corporation is called stockholders’ equity or shareholders’ equity.

39. Accounting for Owners’ Equity
In a corporation, the total capital investment actively invested by the owners is called paid-in capital.
Paid-in capital consists of two parts:
Capital stock at par value
Paid-in capital in excess of par value

40. The Meaning of Par Value
Par value (stated value) - a dollar amount printed on each stock certificate
Stock is usually issued and sold at more than par value.
Paid-in capital in excess of par value - the difference between the total amount received for the stock (issue price or sales price) and the par value

41. The Meaning of Par Value
The following formulas show the components of total paid-in capital:
Total paid-in
capital
Capital stock
at par
Paid-in capital
in excess of par + =
Capital stock
at par
Number of
shares issued
Par value
per share x =

42. The Meaning of Par Value
The following formulas show the components of total paid-in capital:
Paid-in capital
in excess of par
Total paid-in
capital
Capital stock
at par = –
Total paid-in
capital
Number of
shares issued
Average issue
price per share = x

43. The Meaning of Par Value
Par value was originally a measure of protection for investors because it established a minimum legal liability of a stockholder.
The creditors would be assured that the corporation would have at least a minimum amount of ownership capital because the investors agreed to invest at least par value.
Capital stock is sometimes called common shares or common stock.

44. The Meaning of Par Value
Some investors purchase stock directly from the corporation (as in the previous discussion).
The company records cash received and records the par value and paid-in capital in excess of par.
Usually, stock transactions involve two or more individuals.
In that case, the corporation does not record anything except the change in ownership.

45. Stockholders and the Board of Directors
In the corporate form of business, management activities and ownership activities are kept separate.
The board of directors is the link between the owners (stockholders) and the actual managers.
The board has the responsibility to ensure that management acts in the interests of the stockholders.

46. Stockholders and the Board of Directors
The relationship among owners, managers, and the board of directors:
Stockholders
Elect
Board of
Directors
Appoint
Managers

47. Stockholders and the Board of Directors
The board of directors is elected by the stockholders.
Management is appointed by the board of directors
Therefore, the interests of both the stockholders and management are usually represented on the board of directors.

48. Credibility and the Role of Auditing
Corporate management prepares the financial statements.
In some cases, management may have incentives to make the company’s performance look better than it actually is.
Investors must be able to rely on the financial statements to show an accurate picture of the company.

49. Credibility and the Role of Auditing
One way to solve the credibility problem is to introduce an honorable, expert third party.
The auditor examines the information that managers use to prepare the financial statements and provides assurances about the credibility of the statements.
These assurances should make the investors more comfortable about using the information to guide their investing activity.

50. The Certified Public Accountant
Providing credibility to financial statements requires individuals who have:
The technical knowledge to assess financial statements and determine their quality
The reputation for integrity and independence that assures they will honestly tell interested parties if management has not produced fair financial statements
The accounting profession has such individuals.

51. The Certified Public Accountant
Certified public accountant (CPA) - earns the designation by a combination of education, qualifying experience, and the passing of a two-day written national examination
The CPA exam covers four major areas:
Auditing
Accounting theory
Business law
Accounting practice (taxes, cost accounting, etc.)

52. The Certified Public Accountant
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) - principal professional association in the private sector that regulates the quality of the public accounting profession
The AICPA prepares and grades the CPA exam.
Each state has its own regulations concerning the qualifications for taking the CPA exam and for earning the right to practice as a CPA.

53. The Auditor’s Opinion
Audit - an examination of transactions and financial statements made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) developed primarily by the AICPA
An audit includes tests of the accounting records, internal control systems, and other audit procedures as deemed necessary.

54. The Auditor’s Opinion
The audit is described in the auditor’s opinion (independent auditor’s report).
The auditor’s opinion is included with the financial statements of the organization being examined.

55. The Accounting Profession
The most common way to classify accountants is to divide them into public accountants and private accountants.
Public accountants - accountants whose services are offered to the general public on a fee basis
Private accountants - all other accountants, including those who work for businesses, government agencies, and other not-for-profit organizations

56. The Accounting Profession
Public Accounting Firms:
Services offered include auditing, preparing income tax returns, and management consulting.
Firms vary in size and services offered.
Small proprietorships perform mostly income tax returns and monthly “write-up” work (bookkeeping).
Large partnerships perform many different types of accounting and consulting services. Some of these firms have thousands of partners and offices in many different countries.

57. The Accounting Profession
The “Big-Five” accounting firms:
Andersen
Deloitte & Touche
Ernst & Young
KPMG Peat Marwick
PricewaterhouseCoopers

58. Professional Ethics
Members of the AICPA must follow a code of professional conduct which is especially concerned with competence, confidentiality, integrity, and objectivity.
CPAs have consistently been perceived as having high ethical standards.
Ethics extend beyond public accounting.
Members of the Institute of Management Accountants are expected to follow their own code of ethics.

59. Other Opportunities for Accountants
Many accountants start their careers in public accounting and move to positions in business or government.
Accounting provides an excellent opportunity for gaining broad knowledge which, in turn, provides excellent opportunities for upward movement within organizations.
Accounting is ranked as the most important course in business programs for future managers.