Calling accountants, people who can do accounts, people who love doing accounts etc...

[Tinker]

HELP!!!

I have a mock exam in a week and need tips on how to remember where things go in my T acounts, P&L and balance sheets etc. These things do not come naturally to me. Any tips, advice please....

pamina, hoping you'd see this

I'm ok with some stuff - can do P&L and BS - can remember teh template and we can take textbook with notes into exam but I get stuck on T accounts for provision for doubtful debts, accumaulated depreciation - all the messy bits. Plus, cashflow statements. It is not natural to me, I'm going to re-invent accounts

Oh and accounting for shares and bonuses etc is horrible. Yes please to nemonics (sp?)

Ooh, what course are you doing Tinker? When my youngest son starts school full time, I'd love to be an accountant. Are you going to work from home? Can you work from home? What are your plans?

Pamina, where do you work (an office, at home)?

(I know my dream is to be a journalist, but in real life, I think accounting would be fun.)

JJ - it's just part of one exam - have to 4 in all - for the Institute of Indirect Tax. It's just for my job really, no extra pay just kudos - and keeps brain active

Aah, thanks. In a couple of years, I might be posting to you guys about becoming an accountant. Good luck with the exam!

Ok, I confess to being another accountant. I qualified over 13 years ago and so have also binned any books or notes I had. I am lucky enough to have a clear idea in my head of debits and credits and so have not used T accounts for a very long time. In my experience the important thing is for the balance sheet to make sense - the P&L falls out. Therefore, in the balance sheet a debtor is a debit, and so the provision for doubtful debts (which reduces the value of the asset) is a credit. Likewise a fixed asset is a debit; therefore the accumulated depreciation is a credit (to give a lower net fixed asset figure). The expense in the P&L for doubtful debts provision and depreciation would therefore be a debit (the reverse of the balance sheet entry). I don't have any helpful mnemonics, but please feel free to ask any specific questions (you don't have internet access in the exam by any chance?!?).

I'll ask a friend of mine, she teaches business accounts at a local college. I'm sure I've still got some AAT text books somewhere, I'll have a look tonight.

Thanks all!

Azure - you make it all sound so simple "the P&L falls out" But I'll study what you've just written and absorb it. I hate T accounts, find it much easier to write a narrative or in columns with and without brackets etc. Makes sense to ME but can't avoid doing some T accounts in the exam Simple ones - fine, but balancing off, bringing down, carrying forward etc urgh!

Pamina - yes please. If you conatct me through another talker we can sort soemthing out. Don't like the thought of dangling debits

Ailsa - this is where I have to shamefuly admit to having done AAT as well! About 10 years ago (so that's ok). But, yes please, if you can recommend an idiot's textbook, that's what I need.

Thanks again everyone

I'm also an accountant- although have to admit T accounts were something that never really stuck.

What is the pass rate for your exam?, for my chartered accoutnancy qualifications it was about 55%, so the lecturers said if you don't understand something (such as accumulated depreciation) then it should go in the "too hard basket" and you should just not worry about doing it as it would only be worth a couple of marks anyway.

Sorry that thats not very helpful, but I yet to make a balance sheet balance in any exam that I have ever sat!! Still passed, and my clients pay my firm over £500p/h for my services!! Not that I see even a tiny fraction of that!

Goodluck, any questions I'm sure the others will know the answers!

pollingfold - no, that's helpful as well. Pass rate is 50% and we have also been coached (and it's the way I work anyway!) to do the easy stuff first and ignore teh hard stuff. And NEVER add up your BS, you'll panic if it doesn't balance.

Reassurng to see all these accountants admit to hating T accounts - invented by a man, an Italian monk wasn't it? Hmm, makes sense now....

Oh yes, my balance sheets never balanced in exams.

Oh, confused. Just spent ages trying to fnd how you do it and looks like it's set to recieve them! Think it wasn't orginally... That explains why I don't get any emails off people I'll contact tech to rectify.

Tinker - I have some info for you but I've left it at work, will post from work tomorrow. As for text books, try the ones by David Cox and Michael Fardon. David Cox taught me accounts when I did my HNC in Public Administration. His books are really clear and easy to understand. Going to college one day a week, we covered two years of AAT accounts in one year, he made it really easy to get to grips with.

Cheers Ailsa.

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Tinker,

accumulated depreciation, as you know this reduces the value of an asset, and as the asset is on the debit side of the T account of the assets account, the depreciation is on the right hand side of the accumulated depreciation account, when the 2 accounts are entered into the balance sheet you get your net book value.

provision for doubtful debts is basically the same, the actual debt is on the debit side of the debtors account in the debtors ledger, and, the provision for doubtful debts is on the credit side of the provision account, the provision account is a memo account only as the provision is also recorded in the debtors account. Still a bit confused on this one though, so someone else might like to think about it.

Do you know about PEARLS.

Debit
P (purchases)
E (expenses)
A (assets)

Credit
R (revenue)
L (liabilities)
S (Sales)

Hope this helps, ignore it if not.

Ailsa - brilliant I'll copy this out - not got a printer at home. Thanks again

JJ, another accountant here (did chartered exams 12 yrs ago). Have managed to find a reasonably family friendly workplace, I work part-time school hours only for a small accounting business and my boss (who has her own 4 yr old) is fairly flexible about hours/days worked. So it is possible to fit round family if you're lucky!

Good luck Tinker with your exam, I haven't used T accounts either since about 1990 and found them confusing at the time!

Well, I've done it...and the dreaded depreciation came up Not confident but not bothered - it's a mock, it's a learning curve blah de blah de blah. Pamina - thanks for the stuff (and the messages ladies, you know how you are )

who not how!