Tag: accounting principles

A Focus on Cash Flow

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At a recent board and owner meeting, I was asked about cash basis of accounting being a better reflection of activity than GAAP.  This owner was an observer at a prior board meeting where I discussed this issue with the board so I think she wanted me to go on record in front of others.

GAAP, for all its flaws, is superior to the cash basis of accounting when it comes to reporting outside of management.  While I agree that GAAP can include requirements that are complex and perhaps outside the competency of management, that doesn’t mean that GAAP is inappropriate: It means that management is likely over its head.

Since this was a condominium association, I asked the board if management told them how much money owners had not paid for the reporting period.  The answer – Yes.  But it wasn’t included in the financial statements.  Management prepared a report showing how much money was collected and spent during the month, and then provided a separate statement with

  • How much owners hadn’t paid
  • How much in vendor invoices came in but were not paid yet

Also known as accounts payable and accounts receivable. The concern I have is not that they were doing this on a monthly basis but rather that management decided that this was an appropriate year-end reporting model as well.  This was the mistake.

Management could have made essentially three journal entries to ensure that the books and records accrued non-cash activity:

  • Record the due but unpaid assessments
  • Record the due but unpaid vendor invoices
  • Adjust the insurance for the amount that is considered prepaid

There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a set of management books and a set of financial reporting books.  It is, in fact, encouraged since decision-makers have different information needs.  Keeping separate books should not entail a great deal of work either.  Most software today is sophisticated enough to easily track cash in and cash out while at the same time tracking the amounts which have not been converted to cash.  The excuse that it is too much work is just that; an excuse.

But I would go further.  The board should receive a GAAP based balance sheet and statement of operations for each meeting.  But, management should also create special reports, or dashboards, for the various members of the board.  The treasurer is mostly worried about current cash receipts and disbursements.  The president, on the other hand, may be worried about reserve project expenditures in relationship to the reserve study.  It is most appropriate, indeed it should be considered essential, to give the information to decision-makers which is most appropriate for their particular needs.

GAAP fills a need for external reporting.  It is as complicated as the entity makes itself out to be.  Internal management reporting can be as simple and targeted as the user wants it to be and indeed should be.  The point of keeping the books on GAAP basis is to ensure that transactions are not overlooked at year-end; Otherwise both management and the auditor have to put more effort into the accounting than is likely warranted.  But if no one minds paying extra to address the conversion from one accounting basis to another, it is likely fine with the auditor.  I know it is fine with us.

Understanding Why Financial Reporting Exists

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I was asked to answer a question on financial accounting concepts on Quora.   I felt that it is an issue worthy of sharing on my blog as well as we don’t often discuss why we have expectations when we prepare and audit financial statements – other than to say GAAP requires it.

The most basic concept underlying financial reporting (and the accounting procedures used to accumulate the data) is investment decision-making.  Everything Mahesh spoke to, and what I am going to elaborate on, is premised on the need for some information for investment decisions.

FASB and IASB have concept statements.  I am most familiar with US GAAP which is put out by FASB.  But I believe both standards setters agree overall on the concept of information necessary for decision making.

Ask yourself, if you were ready to make a decision to invest in a company, what information would you like to know?  Conceptually, the argument goes, you would like to know the business’ financial position – its balance sheet; its operations – profit and loss statement; and its cash flows.  These collectively make up the general purpose financial statements.
Oftentimes, the information presented on the face of one of those statements does not tell the whole story.  Take inventory as an example.  Lets say the statement of financial position says only that inventory is $1.0 Million.  As an investor, your decision to invest might change if you knew that the inventory was all finished goods: Or perhaps it is all work-in-process.  Knowing additional details which can impact an investment decision might still be necessary, the standards require additional disclosure – footnotes – to help investors put those statements into context and provide details that otherwise do not exist.
These statements do not exist in a vacuum.  They are the accumulation and summarization of thousands and millions of transactions.  And to ensure the necessary information is presented timely, is a faithful representation of what actually happened, and is relevant, the standard setters created accounting principles.

And to ensure that investors receive accurate information based on these guiding concepts, it is important that reported information be verifiable (can be audited successful) and comparable to others in similar situations.  This is why there are industry-specific principles and there is a focus on establishing an effective audit trail.  Investors should be wary where there is first, not an independent examination of the statements and second, where the underlying accounting is totally dissimilar to everyone else in the industry.  Sadly, it happens all too often.

If you are a small business and your bank requires you to prepare GAAP financial statements, it is important to understand that this is what they are looking for: Investment Decision information.  It doesn’t matter if the financial statements are prepared by your bookkeeper or audited by an independent CPA.  Your business is responsible for sharing financial information that the bank can use to make an investment (loan) decision.  You have an obligation to ensure it is accurate, tells the whole story, can be compared to other businesses that are in the same industry as you, and ensure that whatever is recorded can be independently verified.

You, management, are responsible for the accumulation, summarization and reporting of the information.  Management decides when to recognize revenues; or to have it be reported as unearned because the job isn’t done; Management decides if a product was actually sold; or was actually shipped to another warehouse across the country.  There is an undeniable tension between management sharing accurate accounting information and investors receivable actionable investment information.  You see this played out frequently in the press when you see a stock slide because a company missed its revenue target.

Accounting principles exist to put the concept into context.  Accounting principles are not complex or difficult to employ, business is moving farther and farther away from simple transactions of shifting values from producer to consumer.  Complex transactions make for challenging financial statements as investors cannot see where value begins and ends.  So ask yourself, do you really want to invest in a company where you can’t tell who owns what and who is owed what?  If not, demand that GAAP be followed; otherwise:

Caveat Emptor baby.

 

 

Accounting Standards

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One of the big issues we face, as auditors, is an entity following an accounting standard for its financial statements.  Which begs the question, what is an accounting standard?

The best way to look at it is that an accounting standard is the expectation of how transactions should be recorded and disclosed in financial statements.   For generally accepted accounting principles, also called GAAP, this way of recording and reporting transactions is presented in the Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC’s.

Why should anyone care?  That is the question we are struggling with this week.  It seems that there are some, even in professional accounting, who are unsure why GAAP should be followed.  I have shared with you some of our more interesting conversation with clients and their management but we have similar discussions within the profession.

The simplest answer is, eliminating confusion.

GAAP, with all its faults, is just what it says it is, generally accepted.  This doesn’t mean universally accepted but it does mean that most of us agree that transactions should be recorded and reported a particular way.  By agreeing, up front, on how transactions should be completed, we get rid of the guesswork and the uncertainty of everyone deciding on their own.

Yes, this is all wonderfully theoretical but the vast majority of small businesses, non-profits and HOA’s don’t care about GAAP, is the argument we hear.  No doubt.  But the people who put their money into it should.

On a simple level, you are approach by a friend, a contractor lets say.  He wants you to be a guarantor on a project.  It seems he can’t get bonding.  You agree but only if you look at his financial statements so you know what you might be getting into.

He hands you a single piece of paper.  On it it says,

Cash        $500,000
A/R       $2,500,000
Profits                 $3,000,000

Are you ready to sign on the dotted line to guarantee this upcoming project?  If so, please write me immediately because I have an investment idea for you!

Of course you are not going to accept it.  Not because you question the numbers, per se, but because you don’t understand how they came into being.  In short, this is confusing isn’t it?

What would you like to know?  How about how he decides to recognize his income?  Perhaps how he elects to record expenses?  Does he have any debts that are not on the books?

You are interested in his accounting principles.  Now, if you happen to know how most (not all) contractors do accounting, you could ask something like,

Other contractors I know record revenues based on how much of the work is completed, is that how you record it?  I have read several other financial statements from contractors and they all have some amount of construction costs, how do you record costs?

If everyone could pick and choose the policy they want to follow we don’t have standards.  You would not have an ability to compare one company against another in the exact same industry – you would not even be able to follow a single company from year-to-year.  Accounting standards enable you to do this.

Look, we know GAAP can be complex.  But in all fairness, your entity is complex.  If you are a retailer of candy bars and you sell for cash only, you have very simple accounting.  If you take money today for work that will be done over the next three years, you created complexity.  And if you do work today and allow people to pay you over the next three years but only in relationship to how effective your work is, you created a nightmare.

As a reader, you should want to know how an entity records and reports transactions.  You should want to feel comfortable that a lot of other similar entities are doing the same thing.  In short, you want to feel good that the financial statements you are looking at are, in fact, generally accepted.

If you don’t like GAAP, then don’t play with other people’s money.   Don’t ask lenders, don’t ask investors, don’t ask me.  If you are the only person who relies upon how you do the accounting do it any damn way you please.  I mean, lets be honest, you won’t even look at a financial statement.  You will log into your bank to see how much cash you have and make all your decisions based on that.

But if you expect others to put their faith in you, then embrace GAAP.  Ensure you prepare financial statements for them to read that comply with the standards the accounting profession has provided.  The standards don’t exist to make your life miserable, they exist to help you get the funding you need.  Overwhelm your reader with good, actionable information and they will return the love.  They may not give you money, but they will likely do what they can to help you succeed.

Because honesty and integrity are still rewarded in this world, even if it often doesn’t seem like it.

Have a great weekend.  And if you are looking for an auditor or CPA firm to review your financial statements, or just help you make sure your financial statements are useful to your readers, feel free to get more information and contact us through our website.  We are here to help you rely upon your management, even if that is you.