FOA II CHAPTER 3 and 4
FOA II CHAPTER 3 and 4
Learning Objectives: After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain a current liability
Identify the major types of current liabilities.
Record current liabilities
The FASB also explained two of the terms. The word probable refers to what can be expected or
believed based on available evidence or logic. The word obligation refers to duties imposed
legally or socially which one is bound to do by contract, promise, or moral responsibility. In
other words, liabilities include both legal and non-legal (but not illegal) obligations. Legal
liabilities are incurred in transactions that are contractual-based on written or oral agreements to
pay cash or to provide goods or services to other entities in the future. Legal liabilities include
such items as accounts payable, notes payable, and sales tax payable. The non-legal group (also
called accounting liabilities) includes those obligations where there is no legal requirement for
assets to be transferred, but a transfer of assets typically occurs as a part of the normal operations
of a business. Non-legal liabilities include equitable and constructive obligations, such as the
liability to employees for vacation pay or year-end bonuses. These are obligations that a
company accepts by paying them every year even though it is not contractually required and has
not announced a policy to do so.
Liabilities generally are classified as either current or long-term. We discuss the issues relate to
current liabilities in this chapter.
Current liabilities are obligations of a company that it expects to liquidate by using existing
current assets or creating other current liabilities within one year or the normal operating cycle,
whichever is longer. The usual criterion is one year.
For certain companies, however, where the operating cycle - from cash to inventory to
receivables and back to cash - is longer than a year, the length of the operating cycle determines
the classification of the liability. Many current liabilities, such as accounts payable, wages
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payable, warranty obligations, and notes payable, are incurred (and paid) during the operating
cycle. Most current liabilities arise from two basic transactions:
Receiving goods or services prior to making payment
Receiving payment prior to delivering goods or services.
In addition, a current liability, Salaries Payable, arises as a result of accrued salaries for sales, as
well as general and administrative, personnel.
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Companies frequently issue notes payable to meet short-term financing needs. Notes payable
usually require the borrower to pay interest. Notes are issued for varying periods of time. Those
due for payment within one year of the balance sheet date are usually classified as current
liabilities.
Notes may be issued to purchase merchandise or other assets. Notes may also be issued to creditors to
satisfy an account payable created earlier. To illustrate, assume that Sunshine Company issued a 90-day,
12% note for $1,000, dated August 1, 2013, to Nature Company for a $1,000 overdue account. The entry
to record the issuance of the note is as follows:
Aug. 1 Accounts Payable –– Nature Co. 1,000
Notes Payable 1,000
Issued a 90-day, 12% note on account.
When the note matures, the entry to record the payment of $1,000 plus $30 interest ($1,000x12% x
90/360) is as follows:
The interest expense is reported in the "Other Expense" section of the income statement for the year
ended December 31, 2014. The interest expense account is closed at December 31.
Each note transaction affects a debtor (borrower) and creditor (lender). The following illustration shows
how the same transactions are recorded by the debtor and creditor. In this illustration, the debtor
(borrower) is Bowden Co., and the creditor(lender) is Coker Co.
A company may borrow from a bank by issuing a note. To illustrate, assume thaton September 19,
2013Nature Company issues a $4,000, 90-day, 15% note to Awash InternationalBank. The entry to record
the issuance of the note is as follows:
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Sept. 19 Cash 4,000
Notes Payable 4,000
Issued a 90-day, 15% note to AIB.
On the due date of the note (December 18), Nature Company owes $4,000 plus interest of $150
($4,000x15% x90/360). The entry to record the payment of the note isas follows:
In some cases, a discounted note may be issued rather than an interest-bearing note. A discounted note
has the following characteristics:
The creditor (lender) requires an interest rate, called the discount rate.
Interest, called the discount, is computed on the face amount of the note.
The debtor (borrower) receives the face amount of the note less the discount, called the proceeds.
The debtor pays the face amount of the note on the due date.
To illustrate, assume that on August 10, 2013, Sunshine Company issues a $20,000, 90-day discounted
note to Awash Bank. The discount rate is 15%, and the amount of the discount is $750
($20,000x15%x90/360). Thus, the proceeds received by Sunshine Company are $19,250. The entry by
Sunshine Company is as follows:
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CHAPTER 4: ETHIOPIAN PAYROLL SYSTEM
Accounting systems for payroll and payroll taxes are concerned with the records and reports associated
with the employer-employee relationship. It is important that the accounting system provide safeguard to
ensure that payments are in accord with management‟s general plans and its specific authorizations.
All employees of an organization expect and are entitled to receive their remuneration at regular intervals
following the close of each payroll period. Regardless of the number of employees and the difficulties in
computing the amounts to be paid, the payroll system must be designed to process the necessary data
quickly and assure payment of the correct amount to each employee.
The system must also provide adequate safeguards against unauthorized payments to employees and other
misappropriations of funds. Various federal, state, and local laws require employers to keep accurate
payroll records and to prepare reports and submit to the appropriate governmental units. The law also
requires employers to remit the amounts withheld from its employees and for taxes imposed on it. These
records must be kept for specified periods of time and be available for inspection by those responsible for
enforcement of the laws. Besides, payroll data may be useful in negotiations with labor unions, in settling
employee grievances, and in determining rights to vacations, sick leaves, and retirement pensions.
Here, in this section, we are going to discuss deeply and work-through the major concepts that are
common to most payroll systems such as the employee‟s earnings record, payroll sheet (or register), and
journal entries related to payroll. Each of these concepts is illustrated and discussed by taking into
account the current tax law of the country. As much as possible it attempts to give you adequate
knowledge about payroll systems in Ethiopia, however, if you come across any confusion or difficulties
you can consult the authorities in the Ministry of Finance or Revenue Administration in your locality, or
refer the various proclamations especially; Proclamation No. 979/2016 and Proclamation No. 983/2016.
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1.3.1. Definition of Payroll Related Terms
Payroll accounting involves so many generally accepted and standardized terms. This helps to attain
uniformity in the system both within the organization and with other related parties. The following are the
most common terms used in payroll accounting:
1. Salary and Wages: salary and wages are usually used interchangeably. However, the
term wages is more correctly used to refer to payments to unskilled-manual labor. It is
usually paid based on the number of hours worked or the number of units produced.
Therefore, wages are usually paid when a particular piece of work is completed
weekly.
On the other hand, salaries refers to payments to employees who render managerial,
administrative or similar services, and they are usually paid to skilled labor on a monthly or
yearly basis.
Both wages and salaries are related to an „employee,‟ that is, individual who works primarily to
one organization and whose activities are under the direct supervision of the employer.
2. Pay Period: a pay period refers to the length of time covered by each payroll payment.
3. Pay Day: - is the day on which wages or salaries are paid to employees. This is usually on the last
day of the pay period.
4. A payroll Register (sheet): is the list of employees of a business along with each employee‟s gross
earning; deductions and net pay (take home pay) for a particular pay period. Then input for payroll
register is the employees work hour duration summarized from any of the following sources:
Attendance sheets: is where employees sign at the time of arrival in the working area. It is usually
placed in offices and administrative areas.
Punched (clock) cards; is an electronically recorded card, where each employee will have his/her
own card for registering both at the time entering and leaving the working place. This mechanism is
commonly placed at the gated of manufacturing plants.
Time cards: is more or less similar to punched card except that the time is manually written in hand
written format by the employee.
5. Gross Earnings: it is the total amount of income earned by employees from different
sources.
Gross Earning = Basic Salary +allowances + Overtime Earring
6. Payroll Deductions: are deductions from the gross earnings of an employee such as
employment income taxes (withholding taxes), labor union dues, fines, credit
association pays etc.
7. Employment Income Tax: are taxes collected from the earnings of employees by the
employer organization as per the regulations of the government. These have to be
submitted (paid) to the government because employer organization is only acting as an
agent of the government in collecting these taxes for employees.
8. Pension contribution:employers deducts some amount of money from employees to provide
some benefits to the employees after retirement and during old age, with a view to create a
feeling of security about the old age to create a feeling of security about the old age.
Pensions and provident funds benefits are called retirement benefits.Permanent employees of
an organization governed by the existing regulations of the Ethiopian civil servants are
expected to pay or contributed 7% of their monthly basic salary to the government pension
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trust fund. This amount should be withheld by the employer from the basic salary of each
employee on every payroll and latter be paid to the respective government body.
On the other hand, the employer is also expected to contribute 11% of the basic salary of
every civil permanent employee towards the same fund. This amount is said to be payroll tax
expense to the employer.
Consequently, the total contribution to the pension trust fund of the Ethiopian government is
equal to 18% of the total basic salary of all civil permanent employees of an organization.
9. Net Pay: Net pay is the earning of an employee‟s after all deductions have been made. This
is take home pay amount collected by an employee on the pay day.
10. Pay Check: a business can pay payroll by witting a check for the amount of the net pay. A
check is prepared in the name of each employee and handed to employee. Alternatively a
check for the total net pay of all employees can be prepared so it will be paid in cash at the
organization for each employee.
As per article 12 of the income tax proclamation, employment incomes include the following:
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Transportation (fuel) allowance- a monthly allowance to an employee to cover cost of
transportation up to her workplace if the employer has committed itself to provide
transportation service.
Overtime Earning: is the work done in excess of the normal daily hours of work. Normal
hours of work shall not exceed 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.
Overtime earnings are therefore the amount paid to an employee for overtime work
performed.Normal hours of work; means that the time during which a worker actually
performs work or avails himself/herself for work in accordance with law, collective
agreement or work rules.
Over time earnings (OTE) = OT hrs worked x ordinary hourly rate x OT rate.
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The tax proclamation also provides some exemptions. Exemption, in this context, refers to
income, which is not subject to tax. As per the proclamation, there are lists of income exempted
from employment income tax:
Proclamation No. 979/2016 states that the following are not taxable
An amount paid by an employer to cover the actual cost of medical treatment of an
employee.
Transportation allowance granted under a contact of employment
Hardship allowance
Reimbursed traveling expense and per diem (incurred on duty)
Food and beverages provided for free to an employee by an employer conducting a
mining, manufacturing or agricultural business.
Contributions by an employer to a pension, provident fund or other retirement fund for
the benefit of an employee provided for the monthly total of contributions does not
exceed 15% of the monthly income
An amount as compensation for personal injury or the death of another person
Salaries paid to domestic servants
1.3.3. Employment income tax computation
Employment income tax is calculated using the following rates;
Employment Income (per month) in Income Tax rate
birr
0 – 600 0
601 - 1,650 10%
1,651 - 3,200 15%
3,201 -5,250 20%
5,251- 7,800 25%
7,801 – 10,900 30%
Greater than 10,900 35%
The most widely used employment income tax computation methods are progression and
deduction.
A. Progression method
The amount of tax is calculated for each layer of tax brackets by multiplying the given rate under
schedule for each additional layer. Assume that Ato Getenet Abebe earned an amount of birr
5,800 subject to income tax ;his employment income tax is calculated as follows.
Earning x tax rate (%) = income tax
600 x 0 00.00
1050 x 10 105
1550 x 15 232.5
2050 x 20 410
550 x 25 137.5
5,800 885
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B. Deduction method
In preparation of payroll and computing the employment income tax,the following short cut
formula can be used.
Income tax = (gross taxable income x tax rate)-deduction
Employment income tax(per Tax rate (%) Deduction(in birr)
month)
Over birr To birr
0 600 0% (Exempt threshold) 0
601 1,650 10% 60
1,651 3,200 15% 142.5
3,201 5,250 20% 302.5
5,251 7,800 25% 565
7,801 10,900 30% 955
>10,900 35% 1,500
Example; we can calculate the income tax of Ato Getenet Abebe given in the previous example who earn
the amount of birr 5,800 using deduction method as follows.
Income tax = (gross taxable income x tax rate)-deduction
Income tax = 5,800x 25% - 565
= Birr 885
(b) Pension Contribution:
The employer deducts pension contribution from Permanent employees of an organization 7% of their
monthly basic salary to the government pension trust fund. This amount should be withheld by the
employer from the basic salary of each employee on every payroll and latter be paid to the respective
government body.
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Hardship OT
S/ Name of Basic House
allowance hours Duration of work
N Employee salary Allowance
worked
Habitamu
01 8,600 400 15 Up to 10:00pm.
Belaye
6 hours up to 10:00pm.
02 Fasil Abiy 2,500 200 12
300 6 hours on public holiday
03 Eden Dawit 1,600 - 6 Weekly Rest days
04 Abdi Tekel 500 100 - -
Mohamed 15 hours on weekly rest days &
05 900 100 200 20
Ali 5 hours during public holidays
Additional information
The management of the organization usually expects all workers to work 160 hours in a month and during
the month of January, 2017 all workers have done as expected. Besides, all workers of the organization
are permanent employees except Abdi Tekel. Fasil and Habitamu agreed to contribute monthly of Br 300
each for a charity organization (for Hope project).
Instructions: Based on the above information:
1. Prepare a payroll register for the organization for the month of January, 2017.
2. Record the payment of salary as of January 31, 2017using cash.
3. Record the payroll tax expense for the month of January.
4. Record the payment of the claim of the Charitable organization that arose from January, 2017payroll
assuming that the payment was made on February 5, 2017.
5. Assuming that the withholding taxes and payroll taxes of the month of January, 2017have been paid
on February 6, 2017, record the required journal entry.
Solution
1. A payroll is registered in the payroll register. A payroll register is a multi-columnar form used to
organize the payroll data of an organization at the end of each pay period. A payroll register would
include: Employee number, names of employees, earnings of each employee, deductions, net pay, and
signature. Hence, these inputs should be prepared as follows:
a) Overtime earning (OT)
OT = OT hours worked X (ordinary hourly rate X OT rate)
Ordinary hourly rate = basic salary required monthly working hours
Name of Basic Required Monthly
S/N Ordinary Hourly Rate
Employee Salary Working Hours
01 HabitamuBelaye 8,600 160 hours Br 8,600/160 = Br 53.75
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01. HabitamuBelaye
OT = OT hours worked X (ordinary hourly rate X OT rate)
OT = 15 hrs x (Br 53.75 x 1.25) = Br 1,007.80
02. Fasil Abiy
OT = 6 hrs x (Br 15.625 x 1.25) = Br 117.19
+ OT = 6 hrs x (Br 15.625 x 2.5) = Br 234.38
Br 351.57
03. Eden Dawit
OT = 6 hrs x (Br 10.00 x 2.0) = Br 120.00
04. Mohamed Ali
OT = 15 hrs x (Br 5.625 x 2.0) = Br 168.75
+ OT = 5 hrs x (Br 5.625 x 2.5) = Br 70.31
Br 239.06
b) Gross Earnings
Gross Earnings: is total amount of money earned by an employee from various sources. Example
includes basic salary, allowance, and overtime.
Gross earnings = Basic salary + Allowance + OT earnings
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Pension contribution = 7% x 8,600 = 602.00
Charity contribution (other deduction) = 300.00
Total Deductions 2,949.34
Net Pay Br 7,058.46
04. AbdiTekel
Gross Earning Income Br 600.00
Income tax = (600X 0%) = 0.00
Pension contribution = no pension (b/c not permanent) = 0.00
Total Deductions 0.00
Net Pay Br 600.00
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Payroll tax expense ………………….......... 1,496
Pension contribution payable ……………. 1,496
4. Record the payment of the claim of the Charitable organization that arose from January, 2017
payroll assuming that the payment was made on February 5, 2017.
5. Assuming that the withholding taxes and payroll taxes of the month of January, 2017 have been paid
on February 6, 2017, record the required journal entry.
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Addis Garment Factory
Payroll Sheet
For the month ended January 31, 2017
Total Sign
Earnings Deductions Deduction Net Pay ature
Total
14,100 800.00 500 1,718.43 17,118.43 2,541.98 952.00 600.00 4,093.98 13,024.45
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