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Every company should prepare and keep its books of accounts and financial statement at the end of every financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the corporation and explains each transaction. The accounts should be maintained on accrual basis and double entry system of accounting.
According to the Section 2(13) of Companies Act, Books of Account involve records maintained in connection with these:
The word “Book and Paper” and “Book or Paper” is used to describe the books of account, vouchers, debts, minutes, documents, writings, and registers maintained on paper or also in electronic form.
Board of Directors must prepare a Directors Report in the given format and must send it to the shareholders along with audited accounts.
The financial statements of the company should be prepared before the AGM of the company, and it has to be adopted by the meeting.
Also, all the accounts should be maintained at the registered office
The books of accounts of the company should be maintained at the registered office of the company for every financial year. Also, the board of directors of the company can keep the books of accounts of the company at any other place in India after filing a notice with the Registrar.
The Board of Directors should decide to keep the books of accounts of the company at any other place in India. For this a special resolution should be passed in the AGM by the board of directors within 7 days a notice should be filed with the Registrar of Companies in Form AOC-5.
A company can maintain its books of accounts along with all the relevant papers in electronic formation if the company satisfies all the given conditions: –
The FY of a company starts from 1st April of a year and end on 31st March of the relevant year.
The company is a holding company, subsidiary company or an associate of company that is incorporated outside India. In that case the company can adopt a different financial year for the purpose of consolidation of its accounts outside India after getting an approval from the Central Government.
All the Company that has a branch office in India or Outside India should keep its records at the branch office which are relating to those transactions that effect branch. Also, the branch office should send the summarized returns periodically to its registered office or it may be the office where the books of accounts of the company are maintained.
The company has to make all its records ready for inspection at registered office of the company or may be the other place in India during business hours which includes all the financial information being maintained outside India. Further, a person who has given legal authority by the respective board of directors through a resolution can inspect the subsidiary company.
The company Needed to preserve all its books of accounts of 8 financial years immediately preceding a financial year and if the existence of the company is for less than 8 years than the records of all the preceding years should be preserved.
Q.1: whether the Minutes, Statutory Registers and Records of the Company are need to be maintained for more than eight years or more?
Q.2: What if a company keep its part of Books of Accounts and other papers in some other place in India other than the registered office of the company?
Q.3: What if a company keep its books of accounts and other papers in multiple places in India?
What is the remedy for a listed company if the shareholder of the company goes to the registered office of the company to inspect the respective documents such as books and papers, but the papers are situated at a place other rather than the registered office?
According to the section 170 of the Companies Act,2013 every shareholder of the company can inspect the statutory registers and records of the company during the business hours, and he/she can take the extracts from there along with the copies of the registers. However, if the shareholder of the company visited the registrar office of the company but documents have been kept at any other place in India other than the company shall explain the matter and guide the shareholder about the other place and about the records.
What are the comparisons between accounts payable and accounts receivable? .
Summary of the differences between accounts payable and accounts receivable
| Particulars | Accounts Payable (AP) | Accounts Receivable (AR) |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Money the business owes to suppliers/vendors for goods or services bought on credit | Money the business expects to receive from customers for goods or services sold on credit |
| Type | Liability – it is an amount the business needs to pay | Asset – it is an amount the business will receive |
| When It Arises | When the company buys goods/services on credit instead of paying cash immediately | When the company sells goods/services on credit and allows customers to pay later |
| Balance Sheet | Recorded under current liabilities | Recorded under current assets |
| Cash Flow Impact | Leads to cash outflow when paid | Leads to cash inflow when collected |
| Accounting Entry | Credited when liability is recorded, debited when paid | Debited when asset is recorded, credited when collected |
| Management Goal | Pay on time to keep suppliers happy and avoid penalties | Collect on time to maintain healthy cash flow and avoid bad debts |
| Key Documents Involved | Purchase orders, supplier invoices, goods received notes, payment terms agreed with suppliers | Sales invoices, delivery challans, customer agreements, credit terms for collection |
| Effect on Working Capital | Delaying payments temporarily improves cash availability | Outstanding receivables reduce cash availability until collected |
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