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Suspense Accounts

Forums › Ask ACCA Tutor Forums › Ask the Tutor ACCA FA – FIA FFA › Suspense Accounts

  • This topic has 19 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 1 month ago by John Moffat.
Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
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  • June 5, 2014 at 2:06 am #174041
    Okema24
    Member
    • Topics: 5
    • Replies: 27
    • ☆

    Question: The suspense account shows a debit balance of $100. What could this balance be due to? A Entering $50 received from A Turner on the debit side of A Turner’ s a/c. B Entering $50 received from A Turner on the credit side of A Turner’ s a/c. C Undercasting the ales day book by $100. D Undercasting the purchases a/c by $100. Kinda confused about the answer. Thanks!

    June 5, 2014 at 2:14 am #174042
    Okema24
    Member
    • Topics: 5
    • Replies: 27
    • ☆

    Another: A suspenders/c shows a credit balance of $130. Which of the following could be due to? A. Omitting a sale of $130 from the sales ledger. B. Recording a purchase of $130 twice in the purchases a/c. C. Failing to write off a bad debt of $130. D. Recording an electricity bill paid of $65 by debuting the bank a/c and crediting the electricity a/c. ( Don’t quite understand how the answer is b, I assumed A at first.) Thanks!

    June 5, 2014 at 6:47 pm #174377
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    First question: The answer is D

    If suspense has a debit balance, then the debit balances total less than the credit balances.
    Purchases is a debit balance, and if has been undercast then it is too low.

    A and B are wrong, because individuals accounts do not appear on the trial balance.
    C is wrong, because ti will mean that sales and receivables will both be too low – but since they will be of the same figure, the trial balance will still balance.

    June 5, 2014 at 6:49 pm #174378
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    A credit balance on the suspense account means that the debit balances total more than the credit balances.

    Purchases are debited to the purchases account, and so if you debit it twice the debit balance will be too high.

    (A is wrong because sales ledger balances do not appear in the trial balance – only the sales ledger control account balance)

    June 12, 2014 at 2:13 am #176068
    Okema24
    Member
    • Topics: 5
    • Replies: 27
    • ☆

    What about option C for question 2, what affect that would have?

    June 12, 2014 at 8:24 am #176119
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    Failing to write of an irrecoverable debt (they are not called bad debts!) means there will be no debit and no credit – so the trial balance would still balance and it would not affect the suspense account.

    June 12, 2014 at 1:53 pm #176218
    Okema24
    Member
    • Topics: 5
    • Replies: 27
    • ☆

    Understood. Thanks! 🙂

    June 12, 2014 at 2:40 pm #176234
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    You are welcome 🙂

    December 27, 2014 at 5:31 pm #221700
    mp-open
    Member
    • Topics: 96
    • Replies: 167
    • ☆☆☆

    Hallo and Merry Xmas,

    If in the second example, we want to write the suspense entry, for the correct asnwer B, I’d write it as:
    Dr Suspense a/c 130
    Cr Purchases 130

    – but the example says we have a Credit balance of the suspense a/c, so these two contradict, as if we have a credit balance in the suspense a/c then I would see it as:

    Dr ??? a/c 130
    Cr Suspense a/c 130

    Why these two entries are not the same, where am I wrong?

    Thank you!

    December 27, 2014 at 7:44 pm #221703
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    There is a credit balance before the error is corrected.

    When we correct the error we debit the suspense account, which then means there is zero balance (which is what we want when errors are corrected).

    January 10, 2015 at 5:57 pm #222272
    mp-open
    Member
    • Topics: 96
    • Replies: 167
    • ☆☆☆

    Hallo,

    May I ask, what is the difference between omitting and failing to do an entry, both of these don’t require a correction with a suspense a/c, do they?

    Thank you!

    January 11, 2015 at 11:29 am #222316
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    Omitting means missing out.

    Assuming that the whole entry is missed out (i.e. no debit and no credit) then it does not affect the suspense account.

    February 16, 2015 at 4:41 pm #228658
    mp-open
    Member
    • Topics: 96
    • Replies: 167
    • ☆☆☆

    Hallo,

    Talking about example two, “failing to write off a bad debt of $130” – and your explanation

    – failing to write of an irrecoverable debt (they are not called bad debts!) means there will be no debit and no credit – so the trial balance would still balance and it would not affect the suspense account.

    By “no debit and no credit”, do you mean as for debit – debiting the irrec.debts a/c and for credit – crediting the A/R account?

    Thank you!

    February 16, 2015 at 5:36 pm #228682
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    Yes – that is the entry that should have been made. But if they have not written off the debt then both the Dr and Cr will be missing (and so the trial balance would still balance – no need for a suspense account).

    February 17, 2015 at 12:34 pm #228887
    mp-open
    Member
    • Topics: 96
    • Replies: 167
    • ☆☆☆

    Yes, agree.

    February 17, 2015 at 1:03 pm #228900
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    You are welcome 🙂

    January 26, 2022 at 2:00 am #647474
    Azai
    Participant
    • Topics: 1
    • Replies: 5
    • ☆

    As you say only sales ledger control account appear in trial balance.
    How the answer of first example ‘D” is right , Is purchase account and purchase control account is same?

    January 26, 2022 at 12:01 pm #647513
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    The purchases account and the purchase ledger control account or not the same thing.

    Do watch my free lectures on Books of Prime Entry.

    June 8, 2025 at 7:33 pm #717806
    harsha..
    Participant
    • Topics: 5
    • Replies: 9
    • ☆

    Sir, sales ledger is individual account but sales account is general ledger for total sales ?

    June 9, 2025 at 7:30 am #717812
    John Moffat
    Keymaster
    • Topics: 57
    • Replies: 54701
    • ☆☆☆☆☆

    The sales ledger (more commonly called the receivables ledger) is a book containing accounts for each individual customer and records what each customer is owing. The sales account is a general ledger account recording the total sales.

    This is all explained my free lectures.

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