Premium Essay

Historical Cost Disavantage

In:

Submitted By Taxman1800
Words 1987
Pages 8
In accounting, historical cost is the original monetary value of an economic item.[1] Historical cost is based on the stable measuring unit assumption. In some circumstances, assets and liabilities may be shown at their historical cost, as if there had been no change in value since the date of acquisition. The balance sheet value of the item may therefore differ from the "true" value.
While historical cost is criticised for its inaccuracy (deviation from "true" value), it remains in use in most accounting systems. Various corrections to historical cost are used, many of which require the use of management judgment and may be difficult to implement or verify. The trend in most accounting standards is a move to more accurate reflection of the fair or market value, although the historical cost principle remains in use, particularly for assets of little importance.
Depreciation affects the carrying value of an asset on the balance sheet. The historical cost will equal the carrying value if there has been no change recorded in the value of the asset since acquisition. Improvements may be added to the cost basis of an asset.
Historical cost does not generally reflect current market valuation. Alternative measurement bases to the historical cost measurement basis, which may be applied for some types of assets for which market values are readily available, require that the carrying value of an asset (or liability) be updated to the market price (mark-to-market valuation) or some other estimate of value that better approximates the real value. Accounting standards may also have different methods required or allowed (even for different types of balance sheet variable real value non-monetary assets or liabilities) as to how the resultant change in value of an asset or liability is recorded, as a part of income or as a direct change to shareholders' equity.
The Constant Item

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Dfsd

...ANALYSIS OF FAIR VALUE AND HISTORICAL COST ACCOUNTING ON REPORTED PROFIT: A STUDY OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA BESSONG, PETER KEKUNG and CHARLES, EFFIONG DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR, P.M.B.1115, CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA Tel: +234 8037079607 ABSTRACT This study aimed to critically examine the effects of fair value accounting and historical cost accounting on the reported profits. However, since the major objective of any business organization is to make profit and continue in business, what they face in the course of doing their business and the method of accounting they use in reporting their profit may make this noble objective to be unrealistic particularly during inflationary period. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources and presented and analyzed using ordinary least square. The study revealed that both historical cost and fair-value accounting have significant effect on reported profit. Conclusively, Based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that the amount calculated as depreciation, charged as taxes and paid as dividends greatly influence the operating profit of the company. This simply means that the method of profit measurement will greatly influence the amount charged as taxes, depreciation and dividend on the profit of the company. The study recommended that companies should prepare their financial report using both historical cost and fair-value methods simultaneously...

Words: 12475 - Pages: 50

Premium Essay

Advanced Accounting Assignment

...of $4,000. The parent sold the land to an outside party in 2018 for $30,000. At what amount should the land be shown on the December 31, 2014 consolidated balance sheet? How much gain/loss on the sale of the land should be reported on the 2018 consolidated income statement? Prepare the working paper entry (in journal entry format) for the intercompany sale for the parent and its subsidiary for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, and 2018. 2014 Land $4,000 Intercompany loss on sale $4,000 2018 Loss on sale of land $4,000 Retained earnings $4,000 2. Sally Corporation (a 75%-owned subsidiary) owned a truck with an original cost of $12,000. It had been depreciated for $7,500 in the last 5 years on the straight-line method with 8 years of life and no salvage value. On January 1, 2014, Sally sold the truck to its parent, Paulson Company for $5,280. Prepare the working paper entry (in journal entry format) for the intercompany sale for Paulson Company and subsidiary for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015. 2014 Intercompany gain on sale of truck $780 Truck $780 Accumulated Depreciation $260 Depreciation expense $260 Truck $7500 ...

Words: 414 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Why Fair Value Is the Rule

...states that fair value takes over for the old, worn out system of keeping books at historical value. She talks about how using fair value makes account more reliable. Also, it was believed fair value accounting was part of the reason the stock market crashed in 1929. Another point that Karthik had was why people actually support fair value. Fair value replaced the old, worn out system of keep books at historical value. With historical value, you never really need to record anything if the price becomes cheaper. It is a way for your assets to look larger than they actually are. If you record an item at fair value, you are normally reducing that value, so you are also reducing your assets. Sometimes you must actually increase the value because you paid less for the item than it is now worth. Fair value also helps with an insurance policy. If you have something that is stolen, and you do not get a settlement from your insurance company, you record the loss at the adjusted fair value. Fair value is a more reliable form of accounting, at least according to some people. It is believed that if someone is using the real cost on the books, it’ll mean that they are more accurately reporting what they have. Others believe that historic costing is more reliable because you are accurately showing what the product WAS worth. I believe that you should always use the fair value of a product, because historical costing can be overstated. If you are going to make sure that you are accurately portraying...

Words: 662 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Goodwill Impairment at Jackson Enterprises Case

...test. 2. What qualitative factors should a company consider in determining whether the two-step test should be conducted? List each of these factors for Dynamic and ZD. Explain in your own words and provide citation from the codification. Based upon the case information, do you believe that goodwill is impaired for Dynamic and ZD separately company? Dynamic Qualitative Factors | Citation | Simple manufacturing process technology in this industry increased competitors by 35%. The increase in overall market supply may cost Dynamic depressed product prices. Therefore, their profitability would decline. | ASC 350-20-35-3C(b) | Both regulators and union representatives claimed that pollution can cause health hazards to a Dynamic’s workforce. Dynamic faces negative impact of carbon pollution on the environment and the workplace. Suggested solution is to hire professional managers to solve this situation. Accordingly, the company's operating costs would increase. | ASC 350-20-35-3C(b) | Dynamic employees are supported by industry's largest union to obtain a successfully...

Words: 1152 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Case 3

...000 tax basis $30,000 tax rate = 30% Presented and discussed in class on Feb. 12, 2013: http://10.101.116.223/F435/W13/F435All4Feb12.html Problem #2: (Winter 2013) Salvage value = $28,000 tax basis = $19,000 tax rate = 30%. Presented and discussed in class on Feb. 12, 2013: http://10.101.116.223/F435/W13/F435All4Feb12.html Problem 3: (Winter 2013) Salvage Value = $84,000 tax basis $92,000 tax rate = 30% Presented and discussed in class on Feb. 12, 2013: http://10.101.116.223/F435/W13/F435All4Feb12.html Problem #4: (Spring 2014) Machine costs $50,000 now Depreciation over a 5-year MACRS life Three years from now, we will sell this machine for $11,000. What will be the ATSV of the machine in three years? 34% Presented and discussed in May 7, 2014, class: http://10.101.116.223/F435/S14/F435All4May7.html Problem #5: (From Quiz #3-B, Fall 2014) initial cost = $10,417,000.00 expected salvage value in 10 years= $3,260,000 marginal tax rate = 34% 15-year MACRS depreciation Problem #6: (From class on Nov. 4, 2014, when preparing for HW#5) Old Machine: marginal tax rate = 34% if sold now, salvage value = $4,000 net book value or tax basis = $2,100 if sold in 4 years, salvage value = $2,500 If kept, then depreciation will be: time depr(old) 1 $300 2 $200 3 $150 4 $100 Presented and discussed in Nov. 4, 2014, class:...

Words: 264 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Historical Cost Accounting

...Limitations of Historical Costing in times of Inflation Historical Cost accounting and its significance History of Historical Cost Accounting Techniques of Historical Cost Accounting Conclusion References: 1 2 3 *** The impact of inflation comes in the form of rising prices of output and assets. As the financial accounts are kept on Historical cost basis, so they don't take into consideration the impact of rise in the prices of assets and output. This may sometimes result into the overstated profits, under priced assets and misleading picture of Business etc. So, the financial statements prepared under historical accounting are generally proved to be statements of historical facts and do not reflect the current worth of business. This deprives the users of accounts like management, shareholders, and creditors etc. to have a right picture of business to make appropriate decisions.  Hence, this leads towards the need for Inflation Accounting. Inflation accounting is a term describing a range of accounting systems designed to correct problems arising from historical cost accounting in the presence of inflation. The significance of inflation accounting emerges from the inherent limitations of the historical cost accounting system. Following are the limitations of historical accounting: 1. Historical accounts do not consider the unrealised holding gains arising from the rise in the monetary value of the assets due to inflation. 2. The objective of charging depreciation...

Words: 320 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Historical Cost Account

...1 historical cost accounting (hca) is the situation in which accountants record revenue, expenditure and asset acquisition and disposal at historical cost: that is, the actual amounts of money, or money's worth, received or paid to complete the transaction. 2 nature of historical cost accounting this is one of those idiosyncratic headings that teachers dream up (me too, probably!) that meant nothing to me without further explanation 3 the big advantage of hca is that it leads to absolute certainty and it fits in perfectly with the cash flow statement. Hca tells us exactly what has been paid and what has been received and therefore there is no doubt about balance sheet amounts. The alternatives, where accountants attempt to take inflation into account, can lead to many problems. There have been several forms of current cost accounting, purchasing power accounting and so on since the mid 1970s that have been proposed as alternatives to hca. The reason the alternatives have not survived, and IAS 15 on inflation accounting is about to be replaced, if it hasn't been already, is that no one can agree on the best way to represent accounting values. Hca provides definite values, other methods don't! 4 the disadvantages of hca include the fact that hca values can relate to transactions that could be a year old, 10 years old and as much as 100 years old. It's true that some businesses have old equipment and old stocks (inventories) that are still working well but that were bought a...

Words: 2561 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Analysis of Biological Assets Valuation Method with Fair Value Accounting and Historical Cost Accounting in Plantation Subsector of Indonesian Agricultural Industry in the Period of 2007-2012

...ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL ASSETS VALUATION WITH FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING AND HISTORICAL COST ACCOUNTING METHOD IN PLANTATION SUBSECTOR OF INDONESIAN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN THE PERIOD OF 2007-2012 Karina Putri Ramadhani1 and Indra Pratama2 1 Thesis Writer, Swiss German University 2 Thesis Advisor, Swiss German University Abstract The analysis of biological assets valuation with fair value accounting and historical cost accounting method in plantation subsector of Indonesian agricultural industry, in the period of 2007-2012, tries to evaluate the relevance of historical cost towards the fair value of biological assets. It also tries to look for empirical evidence on the differences in calculations on biological assets between FVA and HCA toward company’s EBIT, net income, and potential tax liabilities. The research tests 5 companies within the plantation subsector in agricultural industry listed in Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI). This study shows that there is a strong correlation between all variables tested. Among all statistical tests conducted, all hypotheses are rejected. This study concludes that the historical value of biological assets does not represent its real fair market value, or irrelevant. Also, the change in biological assets valuation from historical cost to fair value accounting would significantly affect the company’s EBIT, tax expense, and net income. Keywords: Fair Value, Historical Cost, Agricultural Industry, Plantation, Fair Market, EBIT, Tax Expenses, Net Income...

Words: 3520 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Business Research Method

...e eBook Collection RESEARCH METHODS FOR BUSINESS A Skill-Building Approach Fourth Edition Uma Sekaran Southern Illinois University at Carbondale John Wiley & Sons, Inc. http://www.wiley.com/college ACQUISITIONS EDITOR MARKETING MANAGER SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR SENIOR DESIGNER PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES COVER IMAGE Jeff Marshall Ilse Wolfe Patricia McFadden Harry Nolan Hermitage Publishing Services José Ortega/Stock Illustration Source This book was set in 10/12 Garamond by Hermitage Publishing Services and printed and bound by Malloy Lithographing, Inc. The cover was printed by Von Hoffmann Press, Inc. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright 2003 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@WILEY.COM. To order books please...

Words: 136265 - Pages: 546