These ten questions cover the skills in control accounts: building receivables and payables control accounts, finding a missing figure, individual balances versus totals, contras, and tracing a difference. All businesses and figures are fictional, and every amount is in RM.
Write your answer on paper first, with debit and credit sides ruled out, then open the worked answer. Check the method as well as the closing balance. The double-entry and ledger trainer lets you check the ledger side, and the mistake log and retest queue helps you track repeated slips.
Questions
1. Opening receivables RM 8,000, credit sales RM 25,000, cash received from customers RM 22,500, sales returns RM 1,000. Find the closing receivables.
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Debit side: 8,000 + 25,000 = 33,000. Credit items: 22,500 + 1,000 = 23,500. Closing balance: 33,000 − 23,500 = RM 9,500. Check: 23,500 + 9,500 = 33,000.
2. State the side (debit or credit) of the receivables control account for each: (a) credit sales; (b) a cheque from a customer returned unpaid; (c) discount allowed; (d) bad debts written off.
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(a) Debit. Customers owe more. (b) Debit. The customer’s debt is restored. (c) Credit. Customers owe less. (d) Credit. The debt is removed from the books.
3. Opening payables RM 6,300, credit purchases RM 19,400, payments RM 17,800, purchase returns RM 900, discount received RM 350. Find the closing payables.
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Credit side: 6,300 + 19,400 = 25,700. Debit items: 17,800 + 900 + 350 = 19,050. Closing balance: 25,700 − 19,050 = RM 6,650. Check: 19,050 + 6,650 = 25,700.
4. Opening receivables RM 12,000, closing receivables RM 11,200, credit sales RM 40,000, sales returns RM 1,300, discount allowed RM 600 and bad debts written off RM 900. Find the cash received from customers.
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Debit side: 12,000 + 40,000 = 52,000. Credit items except cash: 1,300 + 600 + 900 = 2,800, plus closing 11,200 = 14,000. Cash received = 52,000 − 14,000 = RM 38,000. Check: 38,000 + 2,800 + 11,200 = 52,000.
5. Opening payables RM 8,100, closing payables RM 7,400, payments RM 29,600 and purchase returns RM 1,400. Find the credit purchases.
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Debit side: 29,600 + 1,400 + 7,400 = 38,400. The credit side must equal this: 8,100 + purchases = 38,400, so purchases = RM 30,300. Check: 8,100 + 30,300 = 38,400.
6. A shop’s sales day book total for the month is RM 15,200. It also made cash sales of RM 4,800. How much goes to the receivables control account, and on which side? Does the control account tell you what one named customer owes?
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Only credit sales appear, so RM 15,200 on the debit side. The RM 4,800 of cash sales never creates a receivable and is left out. No, the control account holds totals only. One customer’s balance comes from that customer’s own account in the sales ledger.
7. Mei Supplies is a customer who owes RM 2,400 and also a supplier to whom RM 3,900 is owed. A contra of RM 2,400 is agreed. State the control account entries and the amount still owed to Mei Supplies.
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Debit payables control RM 2,400 and credit receivables control RM 2,400. The amount still owed to Mei Supplies: 3,900 − 2,400 = RM 1,500.
8. Prepare a receivables control account from these totals: opening balance RM 10,500, credit sales RM 36,000, cash received RM 31,200, sales returns RM 1,200, contra with payables RM 900, dishonoured cheque RM 400.
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Debit side: 10,500 + 36,000 + 400 = 46,900. Credit items: 31,200 + 1,200 + 900 = 33,300. Balance c/d: 46,900 − 33,300 = RM 13,600.
| Debit | RM | Credit | RM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance b/d | 10,500 | Bank | 31,200 |
| Credit sales | 36,000 | Sales returns | 1,200 |
| Bank (dishonoured cheque) | 400 | Contra: payables control | 900 |
| Balance c/d | 13,600 | ||
| 46,900 | 46,900 |
9. The receivables control account shows RM 9,600 and the list of customer balances totals RM 9,400. Two errors are found. (i) A sales return of RM 120 was posted to the debit side of the control account instead of the credit side. (ii) An invoice of RM 40 was entered twice in one customer’s account. Correct each figure and show that the difference is explained.
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(i) The control account is wrong. The return should be a credit, so a debit of 120 is out by 120 + 120 = 240. Corrected control balance = 9,600 − 240 = RM 9,360. (ii) A customer account is wrong, so the list is too high by 40. Corrected list = 9,400 − 40 = RM 9,360.
The two figures agree at RM 9,360. The original difference was 9,600 − 9,400 = 200, and the effects are 240 − 40 = 200, so the difference is explained.
10. Prepare a payables control account from these totals: opening balance RM 7,200, credit purchases RM 21,000, purchase returns RM 1,100, payments RM 18,500, discount received RM 450, contra with receivables RM 1,300.
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Credit side: 7,200 + 21,000 = 28,200. Debit items: 1,100 + 18,500 + 450 + 1,300 = 21,350. Balance c/d: 28,200 − 21,350 = RM 6,850.
| Debit | RM | Credit | RM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase returns | 1,100 | Balance b/d | 7,200 |
| Bank | 18,500 | Credit purchases | 21,000 |
| Discount received | 450 | ||
| Contra: receivables control | 1,300 | ||
| Balance c/d | 6,850 | ||
| 28,200 | 28,200 |
If you got these wrong
Match each kind of error to the lesson that fixes it.
- Wrong side, or cash items included (Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q8): go to build a receivables control account.
- Payables sides reversed, or a missing figure that will not balance (Q3, Q5, Q10): go to build a payables control account.
- Reading a total as one person’s balance (Q6): go to distinguish individual balances from totals.
- Contra posted to only one side, or in the wrong book (Q7, Q8, Q10): go to explain a contra between accounts.
- Corrected the wrong figure, or the sign is wrong (Q9): go to investigate a difference using a fictional schedule.
If one kind of error keeps coming back, that is a habit rather than a gap in knowledge. A teacher in online one-to-one Accounting tuition can watch your working and help you replace it.