Estimating Project Cash Flows: Part 2
We have seen in the previous article that estimating cash flows can be quite confusing and counterintuitive. This is not because they are difficult to calculate. It is just because the course of action taken is opposite to what would have been taken in the case of accounting. Accounting is concerned with matching expenses to […]
Decentralized Crypto Exchanges
Cryptocurrencies are just like other financial assets. This means that they can also be bought and sold in financial markets. However, since they cannot be listed on regular financial markets, special markets have been created for trading them. These markets can be of two types viz. centralized and decentralized. In the previous article, we have […]
Multi-Banking: Meaning and Characteristics
The commercial banking industry is undergoing a rapid transformation. This transformation has been enabled by the increasing use of digital technologies in the commercial banking industry. Open banking has become a game changer when it comes to the field of commercial banking. It has enabled the use of many other modern banking solutions. Multi-banking is […]
How Reserve Requirements Work ?
Reserve requirements are one of the most important features of modern central banking. We hear about reserve requirements almost every day in the media. When central banks like the Fed change these requirements, it is said to have a huge impact on the markets. Liquidity worth billions of dollars is said to be either released […]
The 4 Basic Types of Derivatives
In the previous articles we discussed about what derivative contracts are and what are the uses of such contracts? However, one important point needs to be noticed. Today, if a new person wants to buy a derivative contract, they will be bewildered at the sheer amount of choice that they will have at their disposal. […]
The double entry system of bookkeeping is said to have revolutionized growth in modern business. It is only because businesses are able to keep track of their growing scale of transactions efficiently that they grow further. This has been facilitated by a well designed, error preventing accounting system called the double entry system. Here are more details about this system:
In a double entry bookkeeping system there are two sides to every transaction. The sides are equal in magnitude i.e. the debits must always equal the credits.
When a firm grows beyond a certain size it has to use double entry system of accounting. This is both because it is mandated by law as well as because it is the most efficient system.
Double entry accounting system keeps a record of all major accounting transactions. These could be transactions outside the firm with third parties. Or they could be intra firm transactions where raw material has now been converted to Work In Progress (WIP). By making sure every record about credit as well as intra firm transactions is being accounted for, double entry system provides the most accurate record.
As the scale of a business grows, it becomes more prone to clerical errors. A clerk accounting for a large number of transactions all day is bound to make some mistakes. However, the double entry system does not allow these mistakes to have a cascading effect. This is because the system is constantly checking whether total debits equal total credits. When they are not, accountants know they are dealing with an error. They can then find out the error, correct it and then move forward. This saves a lot of time and builds incredible accuracy in the system.
However the double entry accounting system is not 100% error proof. There is a possibility that an entry may have been completely omitted or that there may have been compensating errors done while passing the entry.
Just like reconciliation, when a business grows, more and more responsibilities need to be entrusted to workers. Many times this leads to frauds by the workers as they embezzle cash and make use of resources for personal benefits. However, the double entry accounting system, when used correctly prevents such situations from arising. The system has strong inbuilt controls to avoid misuse of any resources.
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An Overview of Contracts and Why They are Important to Business and Society
February 12, 2025
