ted73
Nov 6, 2011, 11:05 AM
hello
I am a retired software engineer with extremely limited accounting skills I am volunteering my time to develop online tools to aid the operations of a group of small not-for-profit organizations engaged mainly in healthy outdoor activities.
I have attempted to generate a cash flow statement (or statement of cash flows) directly using bank transactions as input. I have based it on the following assumptions:
the cash flow statement for any period reports the cash that flowed in and the cash that flowed out of the checking account during that same period.
the organization's financial activities are purely operational in nature; cash flow includes only revenue and expenses.
revenue is equivalent to the checking account cash deposits, the cash used for paying expenses.
expenses are equivalent to the checking account cash withdrawals.
deposits and withdrawals are reconcilable using the bank statements to confirm the cash values and dates of all transactions.
assets are not reported in the cash flow statement, but they do affect it. The principle values of the current assets are listed in a second statement called current assets. Assets consist of the checking account balance plus two types of guaranteed investment certificates (gic's):
type 1 is a fixed principle gic that pays interest once a year which is automatically deposited into the checking account.
type 2 is a gic that has a principle value that increases once a year due to accrued interest. The original value plus the accrued interest is deposited into the checking account only once on the maturity date, say 2 years hence.
the cash flow statement for the past year end included the interest earned by the type 1 gic, because that cash was deposited into the checking account during that year and was available for paying expenses. However, the accrued interest that increased the value of the type 2 gic was not included in the cash flow statement, because that cash will not be deposited into the checking account for 2 years and was not yet available for paying expenses.
I have two questions:
1) is it generally accepted accounting practice to exclude the interest accrued each year by the type 2 gic from the cash flow statement as long as it has not matured?
2) is separation of the cash flow and the current assets statements generally accepted accounting practice?
I would very much appreciate answers from some accounting professionals.
I am a retired software engineer with extremely limited accounting skills I am volunteering my time to develop online tools to aid the operations of a group of small not-for-profit organizations engaged mainly in healthy outdoor activities.
I have attempted to generate a cash flow statement (or statement of cash flows) directly using bank transactions as input. I have based it on the following assumptions:
the cash flow statement for any period reports the cash that flowed in and the cash that flowed out of the checking account during that same period.
the organization's financial activities are purely operational in nature; cash flow includes only revenue and expenses.
revenue is equivalent to the checking account cash deposits, the cash used for paying expenses.
expenses are equivalent to the checking account cash withdrawals.
deposits and withdrawals are reconcilable using the bank statements to confirm the cash values and dates of all transactions.
assets are not reported in the cash flow statement, but they do affect it. The principle values of the current assets are listed in a second statement called current assets. Assets consist of the checking account balance plus two types of guaranteed investment certificates (gic's):
type 1 is a fixed principle gic that pays interest once a year which is automatically deposited into the checking account.
type 2 is a gic that has a principle value that increases once a year due to accrued interest. The original value plus the accrued interest is deposited into the checking account only once on the maturity date, say 2 years hence.
the cash flow statement for the past year end included the interest earned by the type 1 gic, because that cash was deposited into the checking account during that year and was available for paying expenses. However, the accrued interest that increased the value of the type 2 gic was not included in the cash flow statement, because that cash will not be deposited into the checking account for 2 years and was not yet available for paying expenses.
I have two questions:
1) is it generally accepted accounting practice to exclude the interest accrued each year by the type 2 gic from the cash flow statement as long as it has not matured?
2) is separation of the cash flow and the current assets statements generally accepted accounting practice?
I would very much appreciate answers from some accounting professionals.