The Concept of a Balance Sheet

Editor's Notes

• #2: The following slides are an illustration of what was stated in relation to the EVALUATION OF ASSETS and the impact on the NET WORTH
• #8: This is quite a remarkable slide It shows the P & L statement in a different manner Look at all this hard work and what is finally left over after taxes FOR OUR DEALER LESS THAN 1% OF HIS TURNOVER IS LEFT FOR HIM Now we should really company to what is left over with his initial investment The return on investment for our car dealer is about 12 to 15 %, in other words it is still worth being a car dealer Below 7% he better puts his money to fruition somewhere else and enjoy himself rather than working as hard as he is doing
• #9: As you can see the Income statement also called the Profit & Loss Account is structured in 4 parts to show income and charges as a result of Operations Exceptional items (for instance head quarters have been sold) The results (positive or negative) of the investments made by the company The financial cost and taxes The purpose to structure a P & L that way is to make comparison possible and show if the money is coming from operations or anything else As you can see the P & L has its own vocabulary Turnover – cost of goods sold = GROS MARGIN GROS MARGIN + OTHER BUSINESS RELATED INCOME = INCOME FROM OPERATIONS INCOME FROM OPERATIONS – GOODS AND SERVICES = ADDED VALUE ADDED VALUE – PERSONNEL EXPENSE & OTHER OPERATIONAL EXPENSES = GROS OPERATION INCOME GROS OPERATING INCOME +/- EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS = EBITDA (Earnings before interest and taxes and before depreciation and amortisation) EBITDA – AMORTISATION & DEPRECIATIONS & PROVISIONS = EBIT (Earnings before interest and taxes) EBIT – INTEREST AND TAXES = NET PROFIT You have to get used to both the terminology and the lay-out
• #11: Participants should be in a position to put on paper the basics of a balance sheet of a bank I WOULD SUGGEST ANOTHER EXERCISE HERE ON DEBITS AND CREDITS THEY FOLLOW THE SAME CONVENTION AS EARLIER BUT A BANKER THINKS DIFFERENTLY THAN HIS CUSTOMER DUE TO THE FACT THAT WHAT REPRESENTS AN ASSET FOR A CUSTOMER IS A LIABILITY FOR A BANK When a person puts money in his or her account that person increases his or her assets held at the bank That same transaction for the bank means that the indebtedness from the bank towards the customer increases The bank will consider that the money of the customer is a liability When a liability account increases we talk about a CREDIT Therefore the banker will say to the customer that the account has been credited When a bank pays by means of the account a telephone bill, this means that the LIABILITY TOWARDS THE CUSTOMER DERCREASES this means a DEBIT The bank does not think differently than the customer it is just that what the customer puts on his balance sheet as an asset is put on the banker’s balance sheet as a liability and the other way around When a customer borrows money from the bank this borrowed money is a liability for the customer and an asset for the bank! When a bank extends a loan this means an asset account that is increased thus a DEBIT and for instance a CREDIT to the treasury account The key accounts of the balance sheet of a bank are shown on the next slide Their source is the CSSF and the figures are aggregated figures for the Luxembourg banking system Source www.cssf.lu
• #13: THIS IS THE WAY IT IS DONE WHEN A ASSET ITEM INCREASES IT MEANS A DEBIT Say you get a 500 bill that you have to put into your « petty cash » (cash on hand – it is always an asset item in opposition to treasury which is a broader concept and can be either positive or negative) – this would mean an accounting entry which would start as DEBIT PETTY CASH 500 CREDIT…..500 What you HAVE is an ASSET and when it INCREASES we talk about a DEBIT
• #14: What we OWE is a LIABILITY and when it INCREASES we talk about a CREDIT Debits and credits are conventions and allow for the double entry concept and for the balance of a balance sheet Example : My telephone bill of 150 comes in – this means that I have A LIABILITY which INCREASES this means that the accounting entry will be DEBIT ……150 CREDIT ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER 150 We will see later what we credit and debit and how As stated there is often a confusion due to the bank terminology whereby the bank considers that your asset is its liability So when YOUR MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT INCREASES IT MEANS AN INCREASE OF THE LIABILITY OF THE BANK TOWARDS YOURSELF AND THEREFORE THE BANK TALKS ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOUR EXTRA MONEY MEANS FOR THEM A CREDIT TO YOUR ACCOUNT HELD WITH THEM But let us forget about banks for now and think like an entrepreneur or a private citizen Summary When an asset account increases the convention is that we DEBIT Wen a liability account increases the convention is that we CREDIT IN fact, the only thing you need to remember is the first sentence and the fact it is the opposite for the liability accounts It is therefore essential to know if an account is a asset or liability account We have general agreed standards for that like in Belgium we habe a Belgian Accounting Plan or a GAAP general accepted accounting practice and each account has a specific number For instance the 1… accounts are for equity and reserves,; the 6 ….. Accounts are for charges and the 7….. For revenues and so on The balance sheet of the EIB is based on the IFRS schedule or the International Financial Reporting Standards Those standards gain universal acceptance and even the USA is leaning towards the use of these standards It is not an academic issue as the companies quoted on various stock exchanges have to publish their balance sheet according to different schedules which represent quite an expense The need for a universal lay out and structure is quite obvious
• #15: The first accounting entry for a new company would be (not taking into account expenses, notary cost) DEBIT PETTY CASH or BANK ACCOUNT100 CREDIT EQUITY or DUE TO SHAREHOLDERS100 It balances and we have a debit and a credit You will notice that you always need the two (a debit AND a credit) and that it is ESSENTIAL to ask yourself if you deal with an ASSET ACCOUNT or a LIABILITY ACCOUNT which is increasing or decreasing Let us look at a few examples and after that we will have an exercise or two to get it into the fingers
• #16: This slide explains BEFORE the example and the exercise that it is a CONVENTION FOR THE REVENUE ACCOUNT OR ALSO CALLED THE PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT TO DEBIT FOR A CHARGE CREDIT FOR A REVENUE Example – the payment of a telephone bill would be considered as a charge and would mean a DEBIT to the P&L Account Example – the payment by a customer you invoiced would be considered as an income and would mean a CREDIT to the P&L Account
• #18: Say we put 100 on the table to start a NEW COMPANY without taking into account notary expenses and other expenses we would have 100 as an asset of the newly founded company and 100 as a liability towards the shareholders The asset total would be 100 and the liability total would be 100 In other words the asset of the company is 100% financed by the shareholders A share is a portion of the capital Say we would be 10 shareholders of the new company with an incorporated capital of 100 it would mean that each shareholder would hold 1/10 or 10 As soon as the company starts his life the assets and the liabilities will vary and the net worth (the difference between the assets and the liabilities) will move upwards or downwards
• #19: Say we put 100 on the table to start a NEW COMPANY without taking into account notary expenses and other expenses we would have 100 as an asset of the newly founded company and 100 as a liability towards the shareholders The asset total would be 100 and the liability total would be 100 In other words the asset of the company is 100% financed by the shareholders A share is a portion of the capital Say we would be 10 shareholders of the new company with an incorporated capital of 100 it would mean that each shareholder would hold 1/10 or 10 As soon as the company starts his life the assets and the liabilities will vary and the net worth (the difference between the assets and the liabilities) will move upwards or downwards
• #20: Say we put 100 on the table to start a NEW COMPANY without taking into account notary expenses and other expenses we would have 100 as an asset of the newly founded company and 100 as a liability towards the shareholders The asset total would be 100 and the liability total would be 100 In other words the asset of the company is 100% financed by the shareholders A share is a portion of the capital Say we would be 10 shareholders of the new company with an incorporated capital of 100 it would mean that each shareholder would hold 1/10 or 10 As soon as the company starts his life the assets and the liabilities will vary and the net worth (the difference between the assets and the liabilities) will move upwards or downwards