Preface

With the kind blessings of the Lord Almighty, this book is placed in the hands of readers. The favourable response to our previous publications—Financial Accounting and Cost Accounting—has driven us to write this book, Corporate Accounting.

The content of this book has been designed in such a way that it is not only suitable for elementary level (undergraduate) students but also for students of advanced level (honours, post graduate, professional courses such as CA, ICWA, CS and MBA). It also addresses the syllabi of all universities across India.

For a clear and better understanding of the concepts of corporate accounting, this book is structured around the corporate accounting principles comprising the following chapters:

Accounting for Share Capital; Understanding of Shares; Redemption of Preference Shares; Acquisition of Business; Profit Prior to Incorporation; Issue and Redemption of Debentures; Company Final Accounts; Valuation of Goodwill and Shares; Amalgamation of Companies; Accounts of Insurance Companies; Double Account System and Cash Flow Statement.

Each chapter begins with “learning objectives” and the content of each chapter is based on these learning objectives. The entire chapter is conceived and fragmented into several objectives and presented in a graded and logical sequence.

We have included all concepts relating to each topic. All topics are covered and explained in detail and the difficult areas are given point-wise. It is written in a simple and lucid style such that even students with no background of the subject are able to understand with ease.

As the accounting treatment for corporate entities is completely different from other forms of business enterprises, utmost care has been taken to analyse the subject matter in consonant with the provisions of The Companies Act, 1956, accounting practices recommended by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India through Accounting Standards (Revised), guidelines issued by SEBI and notifications issued by the Income Tax Department and the Ministry of Company Affairs in appropriate areas to enrich the technical authenticity to a high degree. Information is up to date and accurate.

The Banking Regulation Act is strictly adhered to while dealing with the chapter “Banking Companies”, and provisions of IRDA Act and regulations are complied with for the chapter “Accounting for Insurance Companies”. While dealing with the accounting procedure for electricity companies, provisions of The Indian Electricity Act 1910 and The Electricity (Supply) Act 1948 and The Indian Electricity Rules 1956 are strictly followed. In a nutshell, every possible effort has been made to provide latest authentic information with accuracy.

The main features of the book are as follows.

As we are well aware of the difficulty level of the students, that is, incomprehensible and easily comprehensible topics, the problems are solved step by step explaining the intricacies involved. Our experience of more than three decades in the field of teaching coupled with their research experience in educational technology have been translated into words. All doubts that may arise among students are conceived in advance and explained clearly while solving problems. For instance, where and how are the figures arrived at and where such figures should be taken to are marked with asterisks for easy understanding. Sufficiently large number of problems have been worked out. Once the students go through all the solved problems, they gain full confidence on the subject, as each concept is self-explanatory.

Summary: At the end of each chapter, the entire content is given in a summarized form to help the students recapitulate quickly.

Key Terms: To enrich the accounting terminology of the students, all the vital terms associated with each chapter are explained precisely in a lucid and simple language.

Question Bank: On the basis of the research findings on “evaluation techniques” and “tests and measurements” by us, this section—Question Bank—is another feather in the cap of this book.

Objective Type Questions constituting of various categories, such as True or False; Fill in the Blanks; Multiple Choice Questions, are framed for each chapter. In this category, all the relevant and maximum possible number of questions (nearly 1,000 such questions) along with answers are provided. It is a self-assessment device, which is a unique, rare and special feature, exclusively crafted with utmost care for the students. The objective type of questions enhances conceptual clarity for concerned topics among the students.

In addition to this, Small Answer Type Questions and Essay Type Questions have been provided in sufficiently large numbers in separate sections.

Exercises: This section is given in two parts. One for the undergraduate level students and the other for advanced level (comprising B.Com. (Hons), M.Com., CA, CS, ICWA and MBA) students.

• Questions are provided model-wise to facilitate the students refer the main part of text (Illustrations) in case of any impediment while solving the problems.
• Questions are selected from the repeated questions of question papers of reputed universities. On the basis of such questions, new questions are framed and their answers provided.
• For professional courses, questions are scrutinized from the Inter and Final examinations conducted by the respective institutes.

To err is human. Some errors might have occurred in the text unintentionally. If readers find errors in the text, they are welcome to bring them out. Suggestion for further improvement may also be made at [email protected].