AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS IV. (FARM ACCOUNTS).

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS;Importance of keeping farm accounts.

• Helps the farmer to secure loans. Helps to determine whether the farmer is credit worthy.
• Helps to make sound management decisions. Provide data that helps in planning and decision making.
• Helps to determine whether the farmer is making profits. Records indicate whether the farm is running at a profit or loss.
• Helps to prepare farm budget. Helps a farmer to draw estimates for future income and expenditure especially in preparing partial budget.
• Evaluating assets and liabilities. Helps in assessing the farm’s ability to pay what it owes others.
• Assessing the tax chargeable. Helps to estimate the amount of tax that can be charged so that the farm is taxed fairly.

Financial documents.

Invoice.

Document used when goods are delivered on credit. It is issued to inform the buyer of the goods delivered and debits the buyer.

Details contained.

• Date of transaction.
• People involved in the transaction.
• Types and quantities of goods delivered.
• Total amount of money involved.
• Invoice serial number.
• Terms of payment.

 It lists any discounts allowed and specifies period within which payment should be made. It is the first accounting document in a credit transaction.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

  Statements.

• Statement of account.
• Bank statement.

Statement of account.

Document sent to the buyer by the seller as a reminder to inform him/her what he/she owes the seller. It is usually written at the end of the month.

Bank statement.

Financial document sent by the bank to the farmer on a monthly basis to show the position of the bank account by the end of the month.

Receipt. 

Document issued when cash payment for goods delivered or services rendered is made.

Document showing that payment has been made.

Details contained in a receipt.

• People involved in the transaction.
• Date on which payment was made.
• Goods or services for which payment was made.
• Amount of money involved.
• Signature of the person receiving the money.
• Serial number.

Receipts that are not headed must bear the official stamp of the business firm to be varied.

Should have a revenue stamp for money exceeding forty shillings.

It should show the mode of payment that is, is it cash, cheque or money order.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS 

Delivery note.

Document that accompanies goods on delivery. Serves as evidence that goods have been physically delivered from the supplier to the buyer after a credit transaction.

Details contained in a delivery note.

• Date of delivery.
• Quantity and types of goods delivered.
• Method of delivery.
• The person who receives the goods.
• Condition in which the goods are received.
• Serial number.

Purchase order.

Request to a trading business firm to supply specified goods.

Precise details should be given to avoid misunderstanding that may cause delay in supply or supply of wrong or incorrect quantities of goods. The purchase order number should be quote when invoicing the buyer.

Details contained in a purchase order.

• Types of goods required.
• Quantities of the goods.
• Date of order.
• Date within which the ordered goods should be delivered (optional).
• The person who orders the goods.
• The authorising person (makes it valid and control expenditure.).
• Serial number.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

BOOKS OF ACCOUNT.

• Ledger
• Cash book.
• Inventory
• Journal

Ledger.

• Main book used in keeping financial records.
• An account is a page or a section in the ledger given to a person/firm on which all business transactions relating to that person/ firm are entered.
• Account in ledger are divided into two parts drawn in letter T-shape.
• Name or heading for the account is written on the top line.
• The left hand side is debit (DR) side where all decreases (purchases and expenses) are recorded.
• The right hand side is credit (CR) where all increases (sales and receipts are recorded.).

Ledger account page.

Use of columns.

1. Date columns.

Date affecting the account is recorded on the column. It is entered immediately the transaction takes place.

It is divided into 2 sub-columns. The broader sub-column the month is written in words. The narrow sub-column date figure (date appears only once at the top of the date column).

1. Particulars column.

Short description of the entry. It shows also the name of the account involved in the transaction being recorded.

  iii.         Folio column.

Page where a particular account appears in the ledger. Every page in the ledger is numbered.

The folio number of the account being credited should be entered in the folio column of the account being debited and vice versa.

Debit side. (DR)

• Date of the transaction in the date column.
• Item in the particulars side.
• Folio number of the item in the folio column.
• Amount of money involved in the amount column.

Credit side. (CR)

• Date of transaction in the date column.
• Cash at hand in the particulars column.
• Folio number at the cash in hand folio column.
• Amount received in the amount column.

In separate account, ledgers shows the amount the business owes other people or firms and vice versa.

Includes all records of all expenses that the farm ought to pay out and money generated by the farm.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

Inventory. 

Book in which a record of all assets owned by a business or an individual is kept.

Provide information used during valuation or drawing up balance sheet and profit and loss account. Values in inventory changes due to appreciation and depreciation of assets.

 Types of inventories.

• Consumable goods inventory. Relates to consumable goods. Includes animal feeds, fertilisers, drugs and construction materials.
• Permanent goods inventory. Relates to permanent goods. Include tools and equipments, livestock.

Consumable goods inventory.

Permanent goods inventory

Tools and equipment inventory 31,12,2003

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

Cash book

Book in which all transactions involving the receiving and paying out at cash are recorded.

Cash book is portion of the ledger, conveniently bound independently where receipts of money are recorded

Consists of sales and receipts side and purchase and expenditure. (Balanced at the end of the month)

Has the following columns;

• Date of payment
• Receipt number
• Person/firm from where money is received v Total amount received

 Journals 

Book where all unclassified transactions are entered.

Information recorded in a journal.

1. Purchase on credit of a capital equipment i.e. things bought to keep and use and not for resale
2. The sale on credit of capital equipment

• Rectification of errors. Errors are made in other books, new entries, correcting or cancelling the old entries are made in the journal

1. Transfers from one account to another in the ledger.

• Information on purchase, sales, returns, stocks and others in the journal posted in the ledger and used to draw the trading account.
• Information on depreciation is transferred from the journal to profit and loss account. The entries are referred to as closing entries.

1. Opening entries in new books, when new books have to be opened, the balance from the old books must be entered into new ones.

The journal entries here are referred to as opening entries

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

Details recorded in the journal

• Date
• Name of the account to be debited
• Name of account to be credited
• Amount of money involved
• Brief description of the transaction

Format of a journal

NB; account to be debited appears first in the journal

Folio column should be entered when the transactions posted to the ledger thus;

Showing the folio number to which the entry is posted

Indicating the entry has been posted to avoid reposting

The use of DR and CR should be posted

Description of the transaction (narration) reference is made to the voucher or supporting audience

Amount in DR column and CR column must balance

Journal entries

Subsidiary books of the journal

Purchase book/creditors account

All details of items bought on credit are entered here

Creditor-someone or a firm to where the firm owes money

Sales book-debtors account

Debtor –firm/person who/which owes money to the firm

It’s a record of all debtors to the farm

Financial statement

Main purpose of keeping farm records and account is to determine the profit made in a given year or the net farm income and evaluate properties of the farm and liabilities.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

 Balance sheet

Financial statement drawn to show the financial position of a farm business at a particular period of the year.

It is drawn at the end of the accounting period or financial year.

Opening balance sheet.

Drawn at the beginning of the accounting period.

Closing balance sheet.

Drawn at the end of the accounting period.

Balance sheet has two sides.

LHS shows liabilities.

RHS shows assets.

Liabilities.

All the debts the farmer/business owes others. E.g.

• Loans and mortgages.
• Bank overdrafts.
• Debts payable for goods and services received.
• Services to which other people have paid to the business in advance.

Current liabilities.

Debts that must be cleared or repaid within a period of one year.

Include:

• Rent due.
• Electricity, water and telephone bills.
• Workers’ wages. v Bank overdraft.
• Debts payable.

Long term liabilities.

Debts whose repayment period is more than one year.

Example: long term loans.

Assets. 

Properties owned by the business and have a monetary value attached to make.

Include:

• Cash at hand and in the bank.
• Valuation of all farm items e.g. stored produce, farm inputs, livestock, growing crops, farm building, machinery and equipments.
• Debts receivable for goods delivered and services rendered.

Current assets. 

Those likely to be held for a short period of less than a year.

Include:

• Cash at hand and in the bank.
• Debts receivable.
• Farm produce to be sold.
• Inputs in store.

Fixed assets. 

Property of a durable nature.

Include:

• Farm buildings.
• Perennial crops.
• Equipment and machinery.

Order of Assets in balance sheet.

Order of permanency. Begin with the least permanent.

Order of liquidity. Begin with the most liquid assets and permanent.

Order of liabilities in a balance sheet.

Permanency order. Capital appears first, followed by current liabilities and then long term liabilities.

Format of a balance sheet.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

Heading. 

It shows the following details.

• Name of the person or business firm for whom the balance sheet is being drawn.
• Title of the statement. (Balance sheet)
• Date on which it is drawn preceded by the words ‘ as at’

Liability side.

It shows the following.

• Current liabilities (short term debts, bank overdraft, rent and wages).
• Long term liabilities (debts payable such as loans).
• Capital usually called owner’s equity or net worth.

Assets side.

It shows the following:

• Current assets g. cash at hand and bank, debts receivable, livestock, produce and inputs in store.
• Fixed assets e.g. machinery, equipments, motor vehicles, perennial crops, farm buildings and land.

Profit and loss account.

Financial statement showing whether the business made a profit or loss.

Income side.

It is the right hand side. Contains the following.

1. Closing valuation. All assets in the farm/business by the end of the financial year. It gives the total value of the farm or business.
2. Sales and receipts. Include all the produce or items sold from the farm/business and any debts receivable by the end of the financial year.

The expenditure side.

It is the left hand side and contains the following.

1. Opening valuation. All assets in the firm/business by the beginning of a financial year. It gives the value of the farm at the start of a financial year. It is capital available for investment.
2. Purchases and expenses. Includes items bought and debts payable to the firm/business for the financial year.

Format of a profit and loss account.

NET PROFIT= (closing valuation₊ sales and receipts) – (opening valuation +purchases and expenses.).

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

Cash analysis. 

Financial statement drawn up to show the receipts and payment of cash in the business.

The entry of the receipts and payments of cash is as in the cash book except that analysis columns are included. It has two sides’ sales and receipts side and purchase and expenses side.

Each sale or purchase is entered twice once in the total column and once in the analysis column.

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS(IV):FARM ACCOUNTS

ALL AGRICULTURENOTES FORM 1-4 WITH TOPICAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

PRIMARY NOTES, SCHEMES OF WORK AND EXAMINATIONS