Matching Concept in Accounting

The matching principle, a fundamental rule in the accrual-based accounting system, requires expenses to be recognized in the same period as the applicable revenue. Certain financial elements of business also benefit from the use of the matching principle. The matching principle allows distributing an asset and matching it over the course of its useful life in order to balance the cost over a period. The going concern concept is important because it allows accountants to prepare financial statements that accurately reflect the value of the business as a whole.

• But under “accruals accounting” the entity is bound to record the electricity expense for the month of January and not February, because the expense has originally been incurred in January.
• The pay period for hourly employees ends on March 28, but employees continue to earn wages through March 31, which are paid to them on April 4.
• An example of revenue recognition would be a contractor recording revenue when a single job is complete, even if the customer doesn’t pay the invoice until the following accounting period.
• They are based on professional judgment and experience, and they are used to fill in the gaps where accounting concepts do not provide specific guidance.

Because revenue recognition and the cost of goods sold are so closely related, the corporation should recognize the entire $4,000 cost as an expense in the same reporting period as the sale. If an item isn’t directly related to revenue, it should be mentioned in the income statement in the prevailing accounting period in which it expires or is depleted. If the cost of that item in the future cannot be identified as a benefit, it should be charged to the expense as soon as possible. A deferred expense (prepaid expense or prepayment) is an asset used to costs paid out and not recognized as expenses according to the matching principle.

What Is the Matching Principle and Why Is It Important?

It necessitates that a company keeps track of its expenses as well as its revenues. The matching concept implies that expenditure incurred during an accounting cycle should match revenue collected during that timeframe. general ledger vs trial balance The accounting period concept states that the life of a business can be divided into artificial periods of time, such as months or years. This allows accountants to prepare financial statements on a regular basis.

The revenue recognition principle requires revenue to be recognized when it is earned, not when payment is received. This principle ensures accurate financial reporting by requiring revenue to be recorded in the accounting period in which it is earned. Application of matching principle results in the deferral of prepaid expenses in order to match them with the revenue earned in future periods. Similarly, accrued expenses are charged in the income statement in which they are incurred to match them with the current period’s revenue.

Investors like a smooth and normalized income statement that connects revenues and expenses rather than one that is unconnected. Matching Principle requires that expenses incurred by an organization must be charged to the income statement in the accounting period in which the revenue, to which those expenses relate, is earned. Because use of the matching principle can be labor-intensive, company controllers do not usually employ it for immaterial items.

• Team members will receive a $1,000 bonus next year on March 15th, 2023.
• However, the principal’s advantages outweigh these shortcomings, which can be compensated for with a little bit of common sense.
• But immaterial facts, i.e. insignificant information should be left out.
• Because revenue recognition and the cost of goods sold are so closely related, the corporation should recognize the entire $4,000 cost as an expense in the same reporting period as the sale.

This means that qualitative factors, such as employee satisfaction and customer loyalty, cannot be recorded in the accounting records. The business entity concept is important because it allows accountants to track the financial performance of the business separately from the personal financial performance of the owners. In this article, we will dive deep into the 15 core accounting concepts in more detail, understand Accounting Concepts vs. Convention, and explore the importance of these concepts. There are many different accounting concepts and they are constantly evolving, as new accounting standards are developed and adopted. This concept states the obvious assumption that the accounting transaction recorded should be objective, i.e. free from any bias of the person recording it.

Matching Principle for Employee Bonuses

For example, it may not make sense to create a journal entry that spreads the recognition of a $100 supplier invoice over three months, even if the underlying effect will impact all three months. Doing so makes better use of the accountant’s time, and has no material impact on the financial statements. The historical cost concept is important because it helps to ensure that the company’s financial statements are accurate and reliable. The accrual basis of accounting requires accountants to record financial transactions when they occur, regardless of when the cash is received or paid. You could look at the matching concept in accounting as a blend of accrual accounting methods and the revenue recognition principle. One more accounting principle related to matching principle accounting is the principle of revenue recognition.

We call these accounting concepts or accounting concepts and principles. If a business that does landscaping has completed the work of building a swimming pool at a farmhouse, the business has earned the fee, irrespective of when the customer will release the payment for that job. The second fact is that all costs that have been incurred for the purpose of earning the revenue should be included in the expenses for the period in which the credit for the income is taken. The matching principle of accounting is a natural extension of the accounting period principle. Let’s look at an example of how the matching principle helps a company understand the indirect costs of a new piece of equipment that depreciates over time.

matching principle definition

The next section discusses the various challenges accountants face in matching revenue with expenses. A company should use the same method to account for inventory from period to period. This will make it easier to compare the company’s financial performance from one period to the next.

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Assume that a business gives out commissions to its representatives at 10% of their sales, disbursed at the end of the month. If the business makes sales of ₹40,00,000 in January 2022, it will need to pay ₹400,000 in commission in February 2022. According to the matching principle of accounting, the incomes or revenues of a particular period must be matched with the expenses of that particular period.

Stakeholders, such as investors, creditors, and government agencies, use accounting concepts to assess the financial health of businesses and to make informed investment and lending decisions. Both businesses and their stakeholders need these concepts to track their financial performance, make informed business decisions, and comply with financial reporting requirements. To further explain the matching concept, let us define period costs and product costs. This concept states that all relevant information will be disclosed in the accounting statements.

This is because the salary expense matches the revenues generated for the individual months. Expenses such as direct material labor and plant overhead are included in product costs. The allocation method can be used by businesses to match such expenses to revenue. Period costs are recorded on the financial statement as the company incurs them—for instance, office rent, salaries, and other administrative costs.

While matching primary accounting accurately portrays the organization’s finances, it frequently overlooks the consequences of inflation. One of the most straightforward examples of understanding the matching principle is the concept of depreciation. For example, a business spends $20 million on a new location with the expectation that it lasts for 10 years. The business then disperses the $20 million in expenses over the ten-year period. If there is a loan, the expense may include any fees and interest charges as part of the loan term. This disbursement continues even if the business spends the entire $20 million upfront.

Because it requires that the complete effect of a transaction be recorded within the same reporting period, this is one of the most important ideas in accrual basis accounting. According to the matching principle, a corporation must disclose an expense on its income statement in the same period as the relevant revenues. The company should recognize the entire $2,000 cost as expense in the same reporting period as the sale, since the recognition of revenue and the cost of goods sold are tightly linked. However, the matching principle matches expenses with the revenue they helped generate, as opposed to being recorded in the period the actual cash outflow was incurred.