BGCSE Accounting 0614 common mistakes
BGCSE Accounting 0614 · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When asked to explain an accounting concept such as prudence, going concern, or accruals, the candidate writes only the concept's name or a one-line slogan ("prudence means being careful") instead of stating the rule and applying it to the figures in the question.
Textbook definitions are memorised as labels without a worked example, so the candidate cannot connect the rule to a transaction and loses the application marks that carry most of the credit.
What to do instead
Practise a fixed three-part sentence for every concept: state the rule, name the item in the question it affects, and say the effect on profit or the balance sheet. For example, prudence requires that a provision for a doubtful debt be created; this reduces the receivables figure and reduces profit for the year. Build a one-page table of six concepts with one worked example each.
When entering transactions in the books of original entry, the candidate records a credit sale in the cash book or records a purchase return in the sales day book, treating every sale as a cash sale and every purchase as a purchase of goods for resale.
The candidate reads the words 'sold' and 'bought' without checking the payment terms, the nature of the item, or whether a credit note was issued, so the source document is never matched to the correct book.
What to do instead
Before writing anything, underline the key phrase in the question (on credit, for cash, returned, of office equipment) and match it to a source document: invoice to sales or purchases day book, credit note to returns day book, cheque counterfoil or receipt to cash book, petty cash voucher to petty cash book. Do ten short classification drills where only the book name is required, then add the double entry.
When posting to the ledger, the candidate records both halves of a transaction on the same side of the two accounts, or reverses the debit and credit, for example debiting the sales account and crediting the receivables account for a credit sale.
The candidate learns entries by memorising 'debit what comes in' without learning the receiving and giving rule, and does not check the posting by asking which account gains value and which gives it up.
What to do instead
Use a two-column working: name the two accounts, then write 'receiver = debit, giver = credit' beside them before copying to the ledger. For each entry, confirm one debit and one credit and equal amounts. After posting, check the affected account balances move in the expected direction: a credit sale must increase both receivables and sales.
When preparing or using a trial balance, the candidate treats it as proof that the ledger is free from error, and fails to identify errors that still allow the trial balance to agree, such as a transaction omitted entirely, a transaction posted twice, or the wrong account used with the correct amount.
The phrase 'the trial balance balances' is read as 'the books are correct', so the candidate never learns the six or seven error types that do not disturb the totals and cannot answer the error-identification questions.
What to do instead
Memorise the short list of errors that do not affect the trial balance: omission, commission, principle, original entry, reversal, and compensating errors. For each, write a one-line example and state whether it affects the trial balance, the profit, or neither. Then practise a question that gives a list of errors and asks for the correcting journal entries plus the suspense account where one is needed.
When preparing a bank reconciliation, the candidate adjusts the cash book balance for items that belong only in the bank statement, such as unpresented cheques and deposits not yet credited, and adjusts the bank statement balance for bank charges and standing orders.
The candidate has not established which record is being corrected, so items are added or subtracted to whichever figure appears first, producing a reconciliation that cannot be made to agree.
What to do instead
Write the heading of each column before starting: cash book (updated) and bank statement. Put items the business has not yet recorded (bank charges, interest, standing orders, dishonoured cheques) in the cash book column, and items the bank has not yet processed (unpresented cheques, uncredited deposits) in the bank statement column. Reconcile the two adjusted balances and check that they are equal.
When preparing a petty cash book on the imprest system, the candidate records the reimbursement of the float as income or as an expense, or fails to restore the float to the fixed amount, so the balance carried down does not return to the imprest figure.
The candidate treats the top-up cheque as a normal receipt rather than as a restoration of the analysed expenditure, and does not see that the imprest is a fixed working balance.
What to do instead
Follow the sequence every time: open with the imprest amount, record vouchers by analysis column, total the columns, show the balance as the imprest minus total payments, then record the reimbursement cheque for exactly that amount so the next period opens at the full imprest. Remember the reimbursement is a transfer from the bank, not a profit or a new expense.
When preparing a trading and profit and loss account, the candidate mixes up the two sections, placing carriage inwards, returns inwards, and closing inventory in the profit and loss section, or placing wages, rent, and depreciation in the trading section.
The candidate sorts items by name rather than by function, and has not learned that the trading section ends at gross profit and deals only with the buying and selling of goods.
What to do instead
Build a sorting list once: trading section contains opening inventory, purchases, carriage inwards, returns inwards, returns outwards, closing inventory, and sales; profit and loss contains all running expenses, other income, and adjustments. Before writing the account, label each figure in the question as T or P. Then check gross profit by the formula sales minus returns inwards minus cost of goods sold.
When making year-end adjustments, the candidate records the expense or income in the profit and loss account but forgets the corresponding balance sheet entry, so an accrued expense is charged to profit but no accrual appears among current liabilities, or a prepayment is deducted from the expense with no current asset recorded.
The candidate treats adjustments as arithmetic corrections to profit rather than as double entries, so only one side of the adjustment is made.
What to do instead
For every adjustment, write the double entry in full before touching the final accounts: debit expense and credit accruals for an accrued expense; debit prepayments and credit expense for a prepayment; debit depreciation expense and credit accumulated depreciation for depreciation. Then tick each adjustment off against both the profit and loss account and the balance sheet, and confirm the balance sheet still balances.
When calculating depreciation, the candidate applies the reducing balance rate to the original cost each year, or charges a full year in the year of purchase and none in the year of disposal, and then deducts the year's charge from cost rather than adding it to accumulated depreciation.
The candidate has memorised one formula and applies it mechanically without checking the basis stated in the question or the dates of acquisition and disposal.
What to do instead
Write the basis at the top of the working (straight line on cost, or reducing balance on net book value) and apply the stated policy for part years. Keep a three-column asset account: cost, accumulated depreciation, net book value. On disposal, remove the cost, remove the accumulated depreciation to the date of sale, record the proceeds, and show the resulting profit or loss on disposal in the profit and loss account.
When answering interpretation questions, the candidate calculates a ratio such as gross profit margin or current ratio correctly but then only states the number, offering no comparison with the prior year or the industry and no comment on what the change means for the business.
The candidate treats the calculation as the answer and has not practised the structure of comment-plus-reason-plus-effect that the mark scheme rewards.
What to do instead
Use a three-step answer for every ratio: state the figure with the comparison (gross profit margin fell from 30 per cent to 25 per cent), give a plausible reason drawn from the data (higher purchase costs not passed on in selling prices), and state the effect (lower gross profit and reduced ability to cover expenses). Learn the formulas for gross and net profit margin, mark-up, rate of inventory turnover, current and liquid ratios, and return on capital employed.