Guides, practice tips, and IFRS/GAAP insights from the Accountely team.
Three rates, three categories of balance, and one rule that decides everything: monetary items retranslate, non-monetary items at historical cost do not. A full worked foreign purchase from transaction date through year end to settlement.
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Interest incurred while building a qualifying asset is capitalised, not expensed. Here is what counts as a qualifying asset, the difference between specific and general borrowings, worked calculations of both, and the three timing rules.
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An asset can be held for sale without being a discontinued operation. Here are both classification tests, why depreciation stops at classification, and the asymmetry that catches everyone — income statement comparatives are restated, balance sheet ones are not.
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Recoverable amount is the HIGHER of fair value less costs of disposal and value in use — the single most commonly inverted rule in the standard. Worked examples for a single asset and a CGU, plus why goodwill impairment is never reversed.
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IAS 38 is mostly a standard about saying no. Research is always expensed, development is capitalised once six criteria are met, and internally generated brands never qualify. The PIRATE criteria and a worked split of a real project spend.
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Deferred tax stops being mysterious once you see it as a balance sheet exercise. Here is the tax base concept, taxable vs deductible temporary differences, and worked examples of accelerated tax depreciation and a warranty provision.
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Did the event provide evidence of a condition that already existed at the reporting date? That single question decides whether you change the numbers or just disclose. Worked examples, the dividend trap, and the going concern override.
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Two of these are applied retrospectively and one is not — and telling them apart is the whole question. Here is the classification test, the treatment for each, and worked examples of a useful life revision and a prior period error.
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IAS 7 is the standard behind the statement students dread, because it is the only one built by undoing accrual accounting. Here are the three activity sections, what counts as a cash equivalent, and a full indirect method reconciliation worked line by line.
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IAS 1 sets out the five statements a complete set of financial statements must contain, the current/non-current split, and the difference between profit or loss and OCI. Presentation marks are the cheapest marks in an exam — here is how to stop losing them.
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IFRS 15 replaced a patchwork of revenue rules with one five-step model used for every contract. Here is each step explained, plus a worked example allocating a bundled contract price.
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IAS 37 decides whether an obligation gets recognized as a provision, disclosed as a contingent liability, or ignored entirely. Here's the three-question test and a worked warranty provision.
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IAS 16 covers what goes into the initial cost of PP&E, how depreciation is calculated, and the revaluation model most students have never used. A worked example of each.
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IAS 2 governs how inventory is measured and when it must be written down. Here's the lower-of-cost-and-NRV rule, FIFO vs weighted average, and a worked example of a write-down journal entry.
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IFRS and US GAAP diverge on inventory costing, leases, development costs, and more. Here are the seven differences accounting students hit most often.
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IAS 7 allows two ways to present operating cash flows. Here is exactly how the direct and indirect methods differ, with a worked comparison.
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A trial balance that doesn't balance means there's an error somewhere. This guide walks through the most common causes and how to track them down.
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The accounting equation is the foundation of double-entry bookkeeping. Learn what it means, why it always balances, and see it in action.
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Income statement and balance sheet look similar at first glance but answer completely different questions. Here's exactly how they differ.
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Once a journal entry is recorded, it has to be posted to the ledger. Here is how T-accounts work and how to find an account balance.
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The straight-line method is the most common way to depreciate a fixed asset. Here is the formula, a full worked example, and the journal entry.
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IAS 24 changes what you disclose, never what you measure. Who counts as a related party, who deliberately does not, what must be disclosed even with no transactions, and a worked scenario.
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IFRS 16 put almost every lease on the balance sheet. Here is the single lessee model, how to measure the right-of-use asset and lease liability, a worked example with journal entries, and the two exemptions.
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Adjusting entries are where most students lose points on exams. Here are the five types you will always see, each with a worked example.
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Forget memorising tables. Understand the one rule behind debits and credits, see it applied to every account type, and learn the DEALER mnemonic that makes it stick.
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Profit is not cash. Learn what the income statement and cash flow statement each measure, why a profitable company can run out of money, and how the two statements reconcile.
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A practical, step-by-step guide to preparing a balance sheet: ordering assets and liabilities, classifying current vs non-current items, and making it balance — with a worked example.
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Ten journal entry practice problems with full solutions and explanations — from owner investment to accrued expenses. Learn the debit/credit logic behind each one.
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