Nissho Bookkeeping Grade 3 common mistakes
Nissho Bookkeeping Grade 3 · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When journalizing a cash sale, debiting 現金 for the tax-inclusive amount and crediting 売上 for the same gross figure, instead of splitting out 仮受消費税 (or using 税抜処理 consistently with the books).
Candidates memorize 'cash increases, sales increase' and stop there; the consumption tax treatment is taught as a separate chapter, so it is not applied at the moment of journalizing, and the textbook's tax-excluded convention is forgotten under time pressure.
What to do instead
Before writing any entry involving 現金/売掛金 and 売上/仕入, ask 'is this 税込 or 税抜 in this problem?' Then apply the stated method: under 税抜処理 debit 現金 for the gross received, credit 売上 for the net, and credit 仮受消費税 for the difference; on purchases debit 仕入 net and 仮払消費税 for the tax. Do ten mixed practice entries and label each 税込/税抜 before solving.
Posting a compound entry to the trial balance (合計試算表) by writing only the net of the debit and credit sides for an account, so the debit and credit totals of the trial balance no longer agree.
Candidates think of the trial balance as a list of balances and forget that 合計試算表 columns are column totals of the journal, where every debit and every credit is added separately even within one transaction.
What to do instead
When building 合計試算表, transcribe each journal line individually: a 500 debit and 200 credit to the same account add 500 to the debit column and 200 to the credit column, never 300 to one side. Verify by checking that the debit column total equals the credit column total before reading the answer choices; if they differ, look for a netted compound entry.
Preparing the bank reconciliation by adjusting the 当座預金 ledger balance for items the bank has not yet recorded, such as 未取付小切手 and 未取立小切手, instead of adjusting only the bank statement side for those items.
Both sides are called 'reconciliation', and candidates apply every reconciling item to whichever balance they happen to be holding, without a mental model of who has already recorded what.
What to do instead
Use the rule 'the item is adjusted on the side that does not yet know about it.' Items the company has recorded but the bank has not (未取付小切手, 未取立小切手, 未通知の振込) adjust the bank statement balance; items the bank has recorded but the company has not (振込手数料, 利息, 引落し) adjust the ledger balance via 仕訳. Write the two columns first, then place each item, and check that both adjusted figures match.
Recording a petty cash replenishment as an expense, debiting 旅費交通費 etc. and crediting 現金, when the expenses were already recorded at the time of payment under the 定額資金前渡制度 (imprest system).
The replenishment looks like paying for the receipts, so the natural but wrong entry double-counts the expense; candidates do not distinguish 'recording the expenditure' from 'restoring the fund to its fixed amount'.
What to do instead
At replenishment, debit 現金過不足 (if any) and credit 現金 only for the amount handed over, because the expenses were booked when paid. The only entries that touch expense accounts are the original payments and the period-end 現金過不足 resolution. Practice by writing the full cycle - establishment, payment, shortage discovered, replenishment - and confirm total expenses equal the receipts.
Using the 総平均法 or 移動平均法 unit cost as if it were the 先入先出法 cost, or applying the periodic average to a perpetual record, when computing 売上原価 and 期末商品棚卸高.
All valuation methods are studied in one chapter and the formulas look similar; under exam timing candidates default to a memorized average formula without checking which method the question specifies, and average methods are the only ones with a single 'unit cost' figure to grab.
What to do instead
At the top of each inventory problem, write the method named in the question and the cost-flow rule beside it (FIFO: oldest layers leave first; 移動平均: recompute after each purchase; 総平均: one average over the period). Then build a quantity-and-amount table by layer or by purchase date before computing anything. Check plausibility: in a rising-price setting FIFO ending inventory should exceed average-method ending inventory.
Estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts by applying the rate to total 売掛金 including notes receivable and other receivables, or by applying the 差額補充法 adjustment to the whole required balance instead of the difference from the existing allowance.
The two dimensions - which receivables are in the base, and whether the method is 差額補充法 or 洗替法 - are taught together and blur; candidates also forget that 貸倒引当金 has an existing balance that must be read off the 残高試算表.
What to do instead
Two-step habit: (1) circle the base the question names (売掛金 only, or 受取手形＋売掛金, or 貸付金 excluded) and compute the required balance; (2) under 差額補充法 book the difference between required and existing balance as 貸倒引当金繰入, while under 洗替法 first reverse the old balance then book the full required amount. Always locate the existing allowance in the trial balance before writing the entry.
Depreciating a fixed asset for a full year in the year of acquisition or disposal, instead of prorating by months from the month of acquisition to the month before disposal (月割り).
Annual depreciation is drilled as a single formula, and the month-counting convention (start counting the acquisition month, stop the month before disposal) is a detail that is easy to skip when the disposal entry is the focus of attention.
What to do instead
For every depreciation question, first write the period line: 'acquired X month, disposed Y month, depreciate X through Y−1 = n months.' Then compute annual depreciation and multiply by n/12. In the disposal entry, remove 減価償却累計額 including the current year's prorated amount, and confirm 固定資産売却損益 is computed from book value after that depreciation.
Treating 満期保有目的債券 discount or premium as part of 有価証券売却損益 on sale, or failing to amortize the 償却原価 difference at period end, and lumping 売買目的有価証券 fair-value changes into 売上原価 or 営業外収益 incorrectly.
Securities are split into holding-purpose categories with different measurement rules; candidates memorize 'market value' for all securities and lose track of which category uses amortized cost and where the valuation difference belongs.
What to do instead
Classify each holding first: 売買目的有価証券 → fair value, difference to 有価証券評価損益 (営業外); 満期保有目的債券 → amortized cost with 償却原価法 applied at period end, difference to 有価証券利息 (営業外収益); 子会社株式 etc. → cost. On sale, compare proceeds with carrying amount after any required amortization, and book the gain or loss to 有価証券売却損益.
Closing the books by transferring 収益 and 費用 directly to 資本金, or forgetting to close 引出金 to 資本金 at period end, so the 損益振替仕訳 and 資本振替仕訳 stages are merged or skipped.
The three-stage closing process (収益・費用 → 損益, 損益 → 繰越利益剰余金, 繰越利益剰余金 → 資本金) is memorized as a list rather than as a sequence, and 引出金 is introduced in the equity chapter but its closing entry looks like a capital transaction.
What to do instead
Write the closing sequence as a numbered checklist and tick each stage: (1) close all 収益 and 費用 to 損益; (2) close 損益 to 繰越利益剰余金; (3) close 繰越利益剰余金 to 資本金; (4) close 引出金 to 資本金. Then prove it by checking that every temporary account and 引出金 has a zero balance in the post-closing trial balance.
Missing or mis-measuring period-end accruals and prepayments - for example recording a 前払費用 for an item already paid and expensed correctly, omitting 未払費用 for a service received but not billed, or computing the 前払分 from the wrong number of months.
Candidates journal the cash movement and consider the transaction finished, forgetting that accrual accounting requires a second look at the period boundary; month counting for 前払/未払 is also error-prone when the payment period straddles the year end.
What to do instead
At period end, run a three-line sweep over every 費用 and 収益 account: 'paid and used? paid and unused (前払費用)? used and unpaid (未払費用)?' and the mirror for revenues. For each straddling item, draw a timeline from payment date to period end, count the months belonging to next period, and compute the amount as a proportion. Then verify the adjusting entry reverses correctly in the next period.