Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Accountancy

Chapter

Analysis of Financial Statements

Question:

There are two statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Mark your answer as per the options given below.

Assertion (A):  Comparative Statement is a vertical analysis while Common-size Statement is a horizontal analysis.
Reason (R): Comparative Statement is a vertical analysis because an item of two years is compared whereas Common-size Statement is a horizontal analysis because an item of the financial statement is converted into a percent of the common base of the same year.

Options:

Both, Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are correct and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion.

Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are correct but the Reason (R) is not the correct explanation Assertion (A).

Assertion (A) is correct but the Reason (R) is not correct.

Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are not correct.

Correct Answer:

Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are not correct.

Explanation:

* Comparative Statements: These are the statements showing the profitability and financial position of a firm for different periods of time in a comparative form to give an idea about the position of two or more periods. It usually applies to the two important financial statements, namely, balance sheet and statement of profit and loss prepared in a comparative form. The financial data will be comparative only when same accounting principles are used in preparing these statements. If this is not the case, the deviation in the use of accounting principles should be mentioned as a footnote. Comparative figures indicate the trend and direction of financial position and operating results. This analysis is also known as ‘horizontal analysis’.
* Common Size Statements: These are the statements which indicate the relationship of different items of a financial statement with a common item by expressing each item as a percentage of that common item. The percentage thus calculated can be easily compared with the results of corresponding percentages of the previous year or of some other firms, as the numbers are brought to common base. Such statements also allow an analyst to compare the operating and financing characteristics of two companies of different sizes in the same industry. Thus, common size statements are useful, both, in intra-firm comparisons over different years and also in making inter-firm comparisons for the same year or for several years. This analysis is also known as ‘Vertical analysis’.