What is a Trial Balance?

Fixed assets are property or equipment that a company owns, and uses in its day-to-day operations for income generating activities. These include machinery, equipment, buildings and land.

Retained profits, or retained earnings are profits that a firm has earned to date (after deducting dividends or other distributions paid out to investors) and are retained in the company's accounts. In a balance sheet, retained profits are included under the owner's equity section.

A supplier reference (or trade reference) refers to a report detailing the payment history between a business customer and its supplier or vendor. It enables a supplier to check your creditworthiness and find out if you're a reliable customer before they offer you credit.

Current assets are assets that are convertible to cash in less than a year.

Whether you're self-employed or running a small business, you need to stay on top of your business finances.

While you can delegate your company's financial affairs to your accountant, it's still important to have a good grasp of the essentials-such as basic accounting terms and concepts. With this knowledge, you'll be better able to communicate with financial professionals, team members and potential investors.

To help you get started, we've written up an introductory guide to accounting terms you need to know:

Accounts payable (AP)

This refers to money owed to the business by its creditors (suppliers, vendors and other service providers). These are recorded as a liability on the balance sheet.

Accounts receivable (AR)-

This refers to money owed to the business by its debtors (clients and customers). The amounts are recorded as an asset on the balance sheet.

Accruals

Accruals are amounts that are unaccounted for at the end of the accounting period. These can be expenses that have been incurred or revenue that has been earned, but aren't yet recorded in the accounts.

Assets

Any resource that is owned by a company. There are two main types of assets: current assets and non-current assets. Current assets are expected to be consumed within a year, while non-current assets are expected to be held for longer than a year.

Balance sheet-

The balance sheet shows how much a business owns (assets), owes (liabilities) and the amount that is left over for its owners (owner's equity) at a point in time.

Cash flow

Cash flow refers to the total amount of money that is moving in and out of your business.

Chart of accounts

The chart of accounts is a listing of all the accounts used in the general ledger of the business.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)-

The total of all costs associated with producing your products or services.

Credit

An accounting entry that increases a liability or owner's equity account, or decreases an asset or expense account. The term may also be used to refer to an entry on the right side of a T-account.

Debit

An accounting entry that increases an asset or expense account, or decreases a liability or owner's equity account. The term may also be used to refer to an entry on the left side of a T-account.

Depreciation

The measurement of the decline in the worth of an asset.

Common methods of depreciation include: straight line, units of production, sum-of-years-digits and double-declining balance.

Dividends-

Dividends are a payment of profit that a limited company distributes to its shareholders.

It is the money remaining after all business expenses and liabilities, as well as outstanding taxes (including VAT and Corporation Tax) have been paid off.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP):

In the UK, the GAAP is a set of accounting standards published by the UK's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for reporting financial information.

General ledger

A record of all the accounts that a business uses.

The accounts are classified into three categories: assets, liabilities and equity accounts.

Profit & loss (P&L)

The P&L is a financial statement that shows how much money your business has made or lost.

Liabilities

Debts and obligations of a company.

There are two main types of liabilities: current liabilities and non-current liabilities. Current liabilities (otherwise known as short-term liabilities) are due within a year, while non-current liabilities are due after a year.

Equity

Equity can have several meanings in accounting.

Firstly, it refers to the net amount of finances an owner has invested in the company.It can also refer to the residual value of assets less liabilities, as represented by the accounting equation ‘Equity = Assets - Liabilities'.

Expenses

Costs incurred by a company for revenue generation.

A few common types of expenses a business may incur are:

• Fixed expenses: The total amount of the expense doesn't change over the short-term, despite changes in sales volume or other business activities. Examples include lease and rent payments.
• Variable expenses: As its name suggests, the total amount of the expense varies in proportion to changes in sales, production or other business activities. Examples include salaries, utility expenses or costs of raw materials.
• Operating expenses: Expenses incurred for activities that aren't directly related to the production of goods or services. Examples include administrative expenses, or legal and financial fees.
  

Net income

Otherwise known as net profit, net income refers to a business' financial position when the total revenue is more than the total expenses.

Present value (PV)

Present value is a calculation that measures the current value of a sum or stream of money to be received in the future, through adjusting for inflation and interest.

Return of investment (ROI)

A metric of profitability used to measure the gain or loss that an investment generates, relative to the sum of money invested.

Revenue

The amount of money a company receives from selling its goods or providing its services.

It refers to the amount earned before expenses are deducted.

Trial balance

A trial balance is a report that lists the balances of all general ledger accounts of a business at a specific point in time.

An expense should be recorded in the same period that the related revenue is earned.

For self-employed persons or employers, it can be challenging trying to understand the rules surrounding benefits in kind. These can be complicated; some benefits are taxable while others aren't, and it gets tricky figuring out which rules apply to your situation.

To make things a little easier to understand, we've written up a quick guide below. After reading our guide, you'll understand what benefits in kind are, have a clearer idea of which ones are taxable (and which ones aren't), and get an overview of what you need to do when it comes to reporting and paying taxes on benefits in kind.

Do keep in mind that this isn't a definitive guide, as HMRC's decision to impose a tax varies by situation. If you need specific advice, doconsult our specialist accountants at Forma.

The cost of sales is the accumulated total of all costs used to create a product or service, which has been sold. The cost of sales is a key part of the performance metrics of a company, since it measures the ability of an entity to design, source, and manufacture goods at a reasonable cost.

An invoice number is a unique number that is assigned to each invoice. This number is one of the most important elements of every invoice. Its role is to identify transactions, so it needs to be unique. Invoice number can contain only numbers or letters and numbers. It may contain date of issue, name of project or task.

Accruals refer to revenue that have been earned, or expenses that have been incurred but aren't yet recorded in a company's accounts.

Examples of accrued expenses include wages payable, bonuses, interest on loan and goods received.

One example of accrued revenue is accrued interest.

On the balance sheet, accrued expenses are recorded under the current liabilities section, while accrued revenue are recorded under the current assets section.

Written-down value, otherwise known as the book value or net book value is the value of an asset after accounting for depreciation or amortisation. It represents the present worth of an asset from an accounting perspective.

Depreciation is the measurement of the decline in the worth of an asset. Common methods of depreciation include: straight line, units of production, sum-of-years-digits and double-declining balance.

A credit note is a document that a business issues to its customers. It is used whenever an invoice needs to be changed and re-issued, such as when a customer changes or cancels an order, or is charged an incorrect amount.

Tangible assets are physical assets or property owned by a company, such as equipment, buildings, and inventory.

As a self-employed person or small business owner, getting a good grasp of accounting fundamentals can feel like an uphill task.

As accountants who specialise in small business needs, we're familiar with the challenges that you face-and have put together a series of articles to help you easily understand the basics of accounting.

We've touched on key accounting terms & concepts and the differences between bookkeeping and accounting. Below, we'll dive in to explain what debits and credits mean in accounting.

Through the agent authorisation process, a client is able to authorise an agent to deal with HMRC on their behalf. Further information is available on the HMRC website.

A balance sheet is a financial statement that provides a snapshot of the financial condition of a company, showing how much it owns (assets), owes (liabilities) and the amount that is left over for its owners (owners' equity) at a specific point in time. It is typically completed at the end of a month or a financial year.

In business accounting, amortisation is a method of calculating the value of a business asset over time. It is the process of spreading out the cost of an asset over its useful life.

In relation to loans, amortisation refers to the spreading out of loans into a series of fixed monthly installments.

A bank deposit involves placing money into an account with a banking institution. Depositing a cheque is one way to make a deposit. You can also deposit cash or make a funds transfer.

The term ‘debtor' refers to an individual or company that owes money, or is in debt to an individual or organisation. An example would be a customer that has purchased a product or service from your business. In the balance sheet, debtors are listed under the current assets section.

For small business owners and contractors who have just started out, staying on top of your business finances and documents can be daunting.

Here's where our article comes in, so you can quickly get a grip on the basics.