PPE and Cash Flow Statements

                                    Property, Plant and Equipments

Property plant and equipment (PPE) are tangible assets that an entity holds for its own use or for rental to others, and that the entity expects to use during more than one period. PPE could be constructed by the reporting entity or purchased from other entities.

Biological assets, intangible assets and investment property are not PPE. Neither are investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures.

The recognition and measurement of exploration and evaluation assets is set out in IFRS 6, Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources. Mineral rights and exploration and evaluation assets are specifically excluded from the scope of PPE. However, productive assets held by entities in the extractive industries are subject to the same recognition and measurement rules as other PPE. 

Recognition

An item of PPE should be recognised as an asset, if it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the asset will flow to the entity and the cost of the item can be measured reliably. Future economic benefits occur when the risks and rewards of the asset's ownership have passed to the entity. PPE is initially recognised at its cost, which is the fair value of the consideration given.

All the directly attributable costs necessary to bring the asset into working condition should be capitalised: these costs include delivery and installation costs, architects' fees and import duties. Where relevant, these costs should include borrowing costs and directly attributable overhead costs. Any income earned during the pre-production phase, which is not necessary to bring the asset into working condition, should be recognised in the income statement. The cost might also include transfers from equity of gains/losses on qualifying cashflow hedges that are directly related to the acquisition of property, plant and equipment. Where consideration is deferred beyond normal credit terms, it should be discounted to present value.

After initial recognition, the asset should be measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses or at a revalued amount, which is its fair value less subsequent depreciation and impairment losses. In this case, fair value must be reliably measurable. Revaluations must be made with sufficient regularity to ensure that the carrying amount is not materially different from fair value.

However, if an asset is revalued, then the entire class of asset must be revalued. The fair value of property is its market value. A professionally qualified valuer normally undertakes the valuation. IAS 16 does not use the value to the business model. As a consequence, IAS 16 is not prescriptive in requiring such things as non-specialised properties to be valued at existing use value (EUV), at depreciated replacement cost and properties surplus to requirements to be valued at open market value.

Disclosure should be made whether the revaluation was performed by an independent valuer or not. The same rule for revaluation of property applies to plant and equipment. However, there are difficulties of obtaining a market value for plant and equipment that are recognised in IAS 16. Valuation at depreciated replacement cost is allowed when there is no real market value, because of the specialised nature of the assets.

If a revaluation results in an increase in value it should be credited to equity, unless it represents the reversal of a revaluation decrease of the same asset previously recognised as an expense, in which case it should be recognised as income. A decrease arising as a result of a revaluation should be recognised as an expense, to the extent that it exceeds any amount previously credited to the revaluation surplus relating to the same asset.

When a revalued asset is disposed of, any revaluation surplus may be transferred directly to retained earnings, or it may be left in equity under the heading revaluation surplus. The transfer to retained earnings should not be made through the income statement so as to prevent 'recycling'.

IAS 16 capitalises subsequent expenditure on an asset using the same criteria as the initial spend; that is, when it is probable that the future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the entity and the cost of the item can be measured reliably. If part of an asset is replaced, then the part it replaces is derecognised, regardless of whether it has been depreciated separately or not. This is in contrast to certain local generally accepted accounting principles (for example, UK GAAP), which require capitalisation of subsequent expenditure only when the expenditure improves the condition of the asset beyond its previously assessed standard of performance.

Depreciation

The depreciable amount (cost less prior depreciation, impairment and residual value) should be allocated on a systematic basis over the asset's useful life. The residual value and the useful life of an asset should be reviewed, at least, at each financial year end. And if expectations differ from previous estimates, any change is accounted for prospectively as a change in estimate under IAS 8.

The residual value of an item of PPE is based on the estimated amount that an entity would currently obtain from the asset's disposal, less estimated selling costs, if the asset were already of the age and in the condition expected at the end of its useful life. Thus, residual values take account of changes in prices up to the balance sheet date, but not of expected future changes. Residual values are not based on prices prevailing at the date of acquisition (or revaluation) of an asset, but take account of subsequent price changes.

Depreciation commences when an asset is in the location and condition that enables it to be used in the manner intended by management. Depreciation ceases at the earlier of its derecognition (sale or scrapping) or its reclassification as 'held for sale' and should be reviewed at least at each year end. Temporary idle activity does not preclude depreciating the asset, as future economic benefits are consumed not only through usage but also through wear and tear and obsolescence. IAS 16 does not include any reference to renewals accounting and, therefore, does not allow any departure from the principle that the depreciation expense is determined by reference to an asset's depreciable amount.

Derecognition

PPE is derecognised on disposal or when no future economic benefit is expected from its use or disposal. Gains on disposal should not be classified in the income statement as revenue.

When an entity purchases or constructs an asset, it may take on a contractual or statutory obligation to decommission the asset or restore the asset site. These costs should be capitalised at the date on which the entity becomes obligated to incur them. The amount capitalised as part of the asset's cost will be the amount estimated to be paid, discounted to the date of initial recognition.

The related credit is recognised in provisions. There may be significant changes in the initial (and subsequent) estimates of decommissioning costs of an asset, particularly where asset lives are long. These changes in estimate may be because of changes in legislation, technology and timing of the decommissioning and or management's assumptions.

An entity that uses the cost model records changes in the existing liability and changes in the discount rate, adjusting the cost of the related asset in the current period. An entity using the revaluation model accounts for changes effectively through the revaluation reserve.

Impairment

Impairments should be accounted for in accordance with IAS 36, Impairment of Assets. An impairment loss under the revaluation model is treated as a revaluation decrease to the extent of previous revaluation surpluses. Any loss that takes the asset below historical depreciated cost is recognised in the income statement.

Where there is a reversal of an impairment loss, the amount of the reversal that can be recognised is restricted to increasing the carrying value of the asset to the carrying value that would have been recognised had the original impairment not occurred. In other words, after taking account of normal depreciation that would have been charged had no impairment occurred. Compensation may be received in the form of reimbursements and is recorded in the income statement when the compensation becomes receivable.

Impairment indicators are more likely to be prevalent at the present time, therefore requiring assets to be evaluated for impairment. Owing to the current economic environment, it may be more likely that impairment indicators exist. Impairment must be considered at both interim and annual reporting dates.

Recoverability

When PPE is tested for recoverability, it might also be necessary to review depreciation and amortisation estimates and methods. The manufacturing sector is likely to be severely affected. For instance, there could be cancelled sales orders. This would cause some of the PPE to become idle and the utilisation rate of the machinery is likely to drop.

As a result of the lower utilisation rate, there is an implication for the impairment of plant, given that the plant will be idle and not be involved in generating cashflows to the entity. Non-cash generating units are an indication of impairment, as the return on assets in this situation is significantly reduced.

                                                Cash Flow Statements

The cash flow statement (or statement of cash flows) is one of the main financial statements. The cash flow statement explains how a company's cash and cash equivalents have changed during a specified period of time.

The cash flow statement is organized into three sections:
      1. Cash provided and used in operating activities,
      2. Cash provided and used in investing activities,
      3. Cash provided and used in financing activities.

Under the indirect method of preparing and presenting the cash flow statement, the operating activities section begins with the net income during the period of the statement. Since the company's net income was calculated and reported under the accrual basis of accounting, the amount of net income needs to be adjusted to a cash amount. The first adjustment is to add back the amount of depreciation, depletion, and amortization expenses, since these expenses had reduced net income but did not reduce the company's cash. Next, any gains or losses on the sale of long-term assets used in the business are listed, since the entire amount received from the sale is reported as investing activities. Lastly, the changes in the current assets (other than cash) and the changes in current liabilities are listed. For example, if inventory has increased, the amount of the increase in inventory is subtracted because additional cash would have been used to increase the amount of inventory. The amount by which a current liability decreased is also subtracted, since it is assumed that cash was used to decrease the current liability. All of the items reported in the operating activities section are combined into a final number: the net amount of cash provided by operating activities.

The second section of the cash flow statement reports the investing activities. The changes in the long-term asset account balances are reported in this section. For example, if a company's long-term investment in another company has increased during the period, the amount of the increase is reported as a negative amount in the investing activities section—an indication that cash was used. The same is true for the purchase of property, plant and equipment for use in the business—an increase in the equipment account indicates that cash was used to purchase equipment. If a long-term investment or plant asset is sold, the entire proceeds from the sale are reported as a positive amount in the investing activities section. This indicates that cash was provided or increased from the sale. (Any gain or loss on the sale is an adjustment to the net income reported in the operating activities section of the statement.)

The third section of the cash flow statement contains the company's financing activities. This section lists the changes in long-term liabilities and stockholders' equity. For example, if Bonds Payable has increased by $1,000,000, it is assumed that cash of $1,000,000 was provided. The $1,000,000 will appear as a positive amount in the financing activities section of the statement. If Bonds Payable decreased, then the amount of the decrease will be reported as a negative amount—indicating that cash was used to retire the bonds. The amount of dividends declared and paid will also appear as a negative amount, since cash was used. If the company sells some of its shares of stock, the amount received will be reported as a positive amount since it provided cash. If the company purchases some of its shares of stock, the amount will appear as a negative amount in the financing activities section because cash was used.

In addition to the three main sections of the cash flow statement, it is also necessary to disclose significant noncash transactions (e.g. exchanging stock for land) and other items required by generally accepted accounting principles.

                                  

Bank Reconciliation Statement

Definition of 'Bank Reconciliation Statement'

A form that allows individuals to compare their personal bank account records to the bank's records of the individual's account balance in order to uncover any possible discrepancies.

Since there are timing differences between when data is entered in the banks systems and when data is entered in the individual's system, there is sometimes a normal discrepancy between account balances. The goal of reconciliation is to determine if the discrepancy is due to error rather than timing.

IAS 2 Inventries

Why does LIFO usually produce a lower gross profit than FIFO?

LIFO usually produces a lower gross profit than FIFO only because the costs of the goods purchased or produced have been increasing over the past decades. Since LIFO assigns the latest costs of the goods purchased or produced to the cost of goods sold, the rising costs mean a higher amount of cost of goods sold on the income statement. That in turn means a lower gross profit than assigning the first or oldest costs to the cost of goods sold under FIFO.
If costs were to steadily decrease over several years, LIFO would result in a higher gross profit than FIFO. The reason is that LIFO would be assigning the latest costs (which will be lower costs than the first or oldest costs) to the cost of goods sold on the income statement. That in turn means a higher gross profit than under the FIFO cost flow assumption

CLOSING ENTRIES

To update the balance in the owner's capital account, accountants close revenue, expense, and drawing accounts at the end of each fiscal year or, occasionally, at the end of each accounting period. For this reason, these types of accounts are called temporary or nominal accounts. Assets, liabilities, and the owner's capital account, in contrast, are called permanent or real accounts because their ending balance in one accounting period is always the starting balance in the subsequent accounting period. When an accountant closes an account, the account balance returns to zero. Starting with zero balances in the temporary accounts each year makes it easier to track revenues, expenses, and withdrawals and to compare them from one year to the next. There are four closing entries, which transfer all temporary account balances to the owner's capital account.

1. Close the income statement accounts with credit balances (normally revenue accounts) to a special temporary account named income summary.
2. Close the income statement accounts with debit balances (normally expense accounts) to the income summary account. After all revenue and expense accounts are closed, the income summary account's balance equals the company's net income or loss for the period.
3. Close income summary to the owner's capital account or, in corporations, to the retained earnings account. The purpose of the income summary account is simply to keep the permanent owner's capital or retained earnings account uncluttered.
4. Close the owner's drawing account to the owner's capital account. In corporations, this entry closes any dividend accounts to the retained earnings account. For purposes of illustration, closing entries for the Greener Landscape Group follow.

solution of case 4.1

f. in this adjustment there will be a debit of salaries expense and a credit of salaries payable.