Trading statement

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The trading statement is an expanded version of sales portion of the Income statement. The trading statement's main objective is to determine sales, cost of sales and gross profit. [1] The trading statement it's part of effective book keeping within the accounting discipline.

Contents

Primary formula

Sales - Cost of Sales = Gross Profit

Cost of sales

The main parts of a cost of sales calculation consists of:

Example

A business entity purchases £10400 worth of equipment in order to construct computers. During the financial year, £1400 worth of equipment is returned to the entity by its customers as the equipment was determined to be faulty. The previous financial year, the entity had £3000 worth of equipment left over. The entity makes use of a trucking company to deliver all of its goods. The trucking company charges the entity £120 for the year to deliver the equipment. The entity sold £14500 worth of items during the year to various customers. The entity checked its inventory stock levels at the end of the year and determined that there was £2000 worth of inventories left over.

Sales calculation:

Sales = Sales for the year - Returns in (Goods that were returned to the entity during the course of the year)
Sales = £14500 - £1400
Sales = £13100

Cost of sales calculation:

Cost of sales£
Opening inventories£3000
+ Purchases£10400
+ Freight (in)£120
= Goods available for sale£13520
- Closing inventories(£2000)

Therefore, Cost of sales = Goods available for sale - Closing inventory
Cost of sales = £13520 - £2000
Cost of sales = £11520

Gross profit calculation: Gross profit = Sales - Cost of sales
Gross profit = £13100 - £11520
Gross profit = £1580

Ratio calculation

Often, information in the trading statement is left out and it is up to the bookkeeper to determine the missing value. This is a very popular bookkeeping examination type question. The best way to go about solving the unknown variable being either sales, cost of sales, or gross profit is to make use of a ratio calculation.

Want/Have method

Using the example above, we can clearly determine all three variables (sales, cost of sales, and gross profit), as all of the information is provided in the question. If for instance, the question did not stipulate both the sales and the cost of sales figures, though the gross profit figure was given, a ratio calculation can then be performed.
For a ratio calculation, the question will have additional information regarding the mark-up percentages of the sales, cost of sales, and gross profit figures.

Related Research Articles

Cost accounting

Cost accounting is defined as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, allocating, aggregating and reporting such costs and comparing them with standard costs." (IMA) Often considered a subset of managerial accounting, its end goal is to advise the management on how to optimize business practices and processes based on cost efficiency and capability. Cost accounting provides the detailed cost information that management needs to control current operations and plan for the future.

FIFO and LIFO accounting

FIFO and LIFO accounting are methods used in managing inventory and financial matters involving the amount of money a company has to have tied up within inventory of produced goods, raw materials, parts, components, or feedstocks. They are used to manage assumptions of costs related to inventory, stock repurchases, and various other accounting purposes. The following equation is useful when determining inventory costing methods:

Beginning Inventory Balance + Purchased Inventory
=
Inventory Sold + Ending Inventory Balance

Historical cost

In accounting, an economic item's historical cost is the original nominal monetary value of that item. Historical cost accounting involves reporting assets and liabilities at their historical costs, which are not updated for changes in the items' values. Consequently, the amounts reported for these balance sheet items often differ from their current economic or market values.

Inventory

Inventory or stock is the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale.

Revenue

In accounting, revenue is the income that a business has from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. Revenue is also referred to as sales or turnover. Some companies receive revenue from interest, royalties, or other fees. Revenue may refer to business income in general, or it may refer to the amount, in a monetary unit, earned during a period of time, as in "Last year, Company X had revenue of $42 million". Profits or net income generally imply total revenue minus total expenses in a given period. In accounting, in the balance statement it is a subsection of the Equity section and revenue increases equity, it is often referred to as the "top line" due to its position on the income statement at the very top. This is to be contrasted with the "bottom line" which denotes net income.

Cost of goods sold

Cost of goods sold (COGS) is the carrying value of goods sold during a particular period.

Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and credits. The difference between deductions, exemptions and credits is that deductions and exemptions both reduce taxable income, while credits reduce tax.

Income statement

An income statement or profit and loss account is one of the financial statements of a company and shows the company's revenues and expenses during a particular period.

Output in economics is the "quantity of goods or services produced in a given time period, by a firm, industry, or country", whether consumed or used for further production. The concept of national output is essential in the field of macroeconomics. It is national output that makes a country rich, not large amounts of money.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents (CCE) are the most liquid current assets found on a business's balance sheet. Cash equivalents are short-term commitments "with temporarily idle cash and easily convertible into a known cash amount". An investment normally counts to be a cash equivalent when it has a short maturity period of 90 days or less, and can be included in the cash and cash equivalents balance from the date of acquisition when it carries an insignificant risk of changes in the asset value; with more than 90 days maturity, the asset is not considered as cash and cash equivalents. Equity investments mostly are excluded from cash equivalents, unless they are essentially cash equivalents, for instance, if the preferred shares acquired within a short maturity period and with specified recovery date.

Net income Measure of the profitability of a business venture

In business and accounting, net income is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and taxes for an accounting period.

Gross margin

Gross margin is the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold (COGS), divided by revenue. Gross margin is expressed as a percentage. Generally, it is calculated as the selling price of an item, less the cost of goods sold, then divided by the same selling price. "Gross margin" is often used interchangeably with "gross profit", however the terms are different: "gross profit" is technically an absolute monetary amount and "gross margin" is technically a percentage or ratio.

Contribution margin

Contribution margin (CM), or dollar contribution per unit, is the selling price per unit minus the variable cost per unit. "Contribution" represents the portion of sales revenue that is not consumed by variable costs and so contributes to the coverage of fixed costs. This concept is one of the key building blocks of break-even analysis.

Revenue recognition

The revenue recognition principle is a cornerstone of accrual accounting together with the matching principle. They both determine the accounting period in which revenues and expenses are recognized. According to the principle, revenues are recognized when they are realized or realizable, and are earned, no matter when cash is received. In cash accounting – in contrast – revenues are recognized when cash is received no matter when goods or services are sold.

Gross Margin Return on Inventory Investment (GMROII) is a ratio in microeconomics that describes a seller's return on every unit of currency spent on inventory. It is one way to determine how profitable the seller's inventory is, and describes the relationship between the profit earned from total sales, and the amount invested in the inventory sold. Generally for a seller, the higher the GMROII the better. Since the inventory is a very widely ranging factor in a seller's investment in working capital, it is important for the seller to know how much he might expect to gain from it. The GMROII answers the question "for each unit of average inventory held at cost, how many units of currency of gross profit I generated in one year?" GMROII is traditionally calculated by using one year's gross profit against the average of 12 or 13 units of inventory at cost. GMROII may vary depending on which segment we are analyzing, but a rule of thumb is that a GMROII of typical retailer is above 3.0.

In accounting, finance and economics, an accounting identity is an equality that must be true regardless of the value of its variables, or a statement that by definition must be true. Where an accounting identity applies, any deviation from numerical equality signifies an error in formulation, calculation or measurement.

In bookkeeping, accounting, and finance, net sales are operating revenues earned by a company for selling its products or rendering its services. Also referred to as revenue, they are reported directly on the income statement as Sales or Net sales.

An inventory valuation allows a company to provide a monetary value for items that make up their inventory. Inventories are usually the largest current asset of a business, and proper measurement of them is necessary to assure accurate financial statements. If inventory is not properly measured, expenses and revenues cannot be properly matched and a company could make poor business decisions.

Investment is the amount of goods purchased or accumulated per unit time which are not consumed at the present time. The types of investment are residential investment in housing that will provide a flow of housing services over an extended time, non-residential fixed investment in things such as new machinery or factories, human capital investment in workforce education, and inventory investment.

References

  1. "Trading statements". Finance - Procedures and processes. DET Education. Retrieved 28 August 2011.