A year-end note showing a surprise retirement benefit liability sends many SME owners searching for answers. This article unpacks why defined contribution pensions barely register on the balance sheet while defined benefit schemes create a measured, monitored liability under IAS 19 and FRS 102 Section 28, with a full worked example of actuarial movements, journal entries, and covenant implications.
When the trial balance will not balance, a suspense account keeps the books moving — but only if it is cleared quickly. This guide explains what suspense accounts are, why mystery balances appear, and walks through two real worked examples showing exactly how to trace and resolve them before they distort your reports or raise flags with HMRC.
Profitable on paper but short on cash? This guide explains free cash flow versus accounting profit, then walks through a full worked example with a fictional joinery business to show exactly where the money disappears to.
A profitable month on paper and an empty-feeling bank account are not a contradiction — they are two different accounting lenses on the same business. This article unpacks the gap between accrual and cash basis accounting with a worked example, journal entries, and a step-by-step reconciliation so you can stop confusing timing differences with real trouble.
Trade receivables can look healthy on paper right up until a customer collapses and takes a chunk of your profit with them. This guide explains how IFRS 9's expected credit loss model differs from FRS 102's incurred loss approach, and walks through a real provision matrix calculation, journal entries, and the accounting policy choice under paragraph 11.2 that lets FRS 102 preparers apply IFRS 9 instead.
When a lawsuit, warranty claim, or dispute is still unresolved at year-end, should it appear in the accounts? IAS 37 and FRS 102 both apply a strict three-question test — present obligation, probable outflow, reliable estimate — to decide between a provision, a disclosure note, or nothing at all. This article walks through a worked unfair dismissal claim, showing exactly how a solicitor's probability assessment becomes a defensible £27,000 provision figure, plus the tax and audit pitfalls SME owners commonly miss.
Growing businesses often outgrow FRS 105 without realising it. This guide compares FRS 105, FRS 102 and IFRS with a worked example showing how the same investment property produces three very different sets of numbers.
IFRS 16 now forces most leases—office space, vans, photocopiers—onto the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and lease liability. This guide walks through why the change happened, a worked five-year office lease example with journal entries, and what it means for covenants, EBITDA and management reporting.
