In accounting, a schedule is defined as the supporting report or document which constitutes detailed information, explaining the elements of the chief financial report. It serves as a kind of proof to all the data that is presented in the financial report, with answers to all the numbers mentioned in the report.
In other words, accounting schedules provide all the financial accounting in detail which cannot be illustrated within the chief report. For example, if we talk about the schedule of the balance sheet, not only the liabilities, assets, and equities of a company will be presented, but a breakdown of each category will be shared as a sub-category or a sub-schedule.
Types of Accounting Schedules
The accounting world constitutes a lot of financial terms which have different meanings and executions. These terms together lay the foundation for financial reporting and serve as the basis for the various types of accounting schedules discussed herein.
Accounts Receivable Schedule
The accounts receivable schedule lets you know about the payments which others have to pay to your company in exchange for your products and services which were consumed by them. This easily lets you know which customers have outstanding invoices as the invoices are collaboratively assigned to every single customer. With this report, you will know if you need to schedule a collection call or reduce the ‘credit extended’ in case a customer has not paid you yet for your services.
For example, businesses can generate payment notices to the customers with unpaid invoices after simply cross-verifying the list of such customers with the help of this schedule.
Accounts Payable Schedule
The accounts payable schedule lists the number of vendors to whom your company have payments pending. If your business buys services and raw materials from a lot of different companies, there is a good amount of possibility that your business gets offered terms, with cash not forming the only source of payments.
For example, the debts which are outstanding are actually a liability on a business which must be paid as soon as possible. This schedule precisely tells you about how much money is to be paid and to whom. In other words, it is one of the best ways to arrive at the accounts payable solutions.
Inventory Schedule
The inventory schedule lets you know about the raw materials that are available for use for manufacturing and the number of ready-to-sale products to the customers. The complete costs of all these things form the inventory, which is considered as an asset to the company. Any revenues that come as a result of incurred costs while providing a service also come under the inventory. The distribution details of the inventories will be shown in this schedule.
In a nutshell, inventory accounting is comprised of the following:
- Raw Materials- Materials available for the finished goods manufacturing
- Working Materials-Materials that are presently in use for goods manufacturing
- Finished Goods-Finished goods that are ready for sale to the customers
Fixed Asset Schedule
The fixed asset schedule comprises of the fixed assets listing in detail, which is mentioned in the general ledger. In exact terms, this schedule will let you know about the particular asset number, gross cost, description, and accumulated depreciation.
Accumulated depreciation is defined as the complete fixed asset depreciation, which is ‘expense charged’ owing to its acquisition and availability for use. The accumulated depreciation account is an account for the assets which are having a credit balance i.e. it appears as a deduction from the total fixed assets amount reported on the balance sheet.
Some of the major fixed assets are reported below:-
- Buildings
- Land
- Leasehold Improvements
- Machinery
- Equipment for Computer
- Software for Computer
- Fixtures and Furniture
- Intangible Assets
- Vehicles
Other Accounting Schedules
When the time arrives for paying the taxes, you will come across a lot of other schedule types which are referred to as different forms by the IRS. These forms are to be attached with the information of your annual tax return since they let the IRS know about the complete explanation regarding the numerical information in your tax return. Some of the common forms or schedules are listed below:
- Schedule A- Itemized Deductions
- Schedule B-Dividends and Interest Information Report
- Schedule C-Business Loss or Income Reporting
- Schedule SE-Self-Employment Tax Information
Users of Common Accounting Schedules
Finance Manager
The finance manager is responsible for the cost and cash management, ensuring cash availability and least operational cost. Transfer of funds between a business's different bank accounts at the minimal cost and right time require accounting schedule reviews, which are carried out by the manager.
Controller
The existence and accuracy of the cash equivalents and cash recorded is provided by the controller. For this, he conducts monthly scheduling reviews to ensure their bank reconciliation with the general ledger.
Treasurer
Business cash availability is monitored by the treasurer, with 'excess cash placing' in temporary placements. In case, the funds lack, long-term and short-term loans are suggested to the board of directors by the treasurer.
Internal Auditors
Internal auditors ensure compliance with different policies and standards established by accounting bodies, business, and government agencies using the accounting schedules. Apart from this, they use the schedules to perform an audit on every cash account procedure to check propriety.
External Auditors
The role of external auditors is to double sure the compliance of accounting schedules with various policies and standards through a year-end audit. However, the main focus is on accounting standards' compliance with the availability, existence, and ownership of cash equivalents and reported cash.
How to Prepare an Error-free Financial Report?
It is extremely important that you prepare your financial report error-free as any wrong or missed out financial information can not only lead to a penalty from the IRS but also lead to poor financial assessment and decision-making. Of course, hiring an expert accounting team that takes care of the entire financial processes is the best solution but it is very much possible that even the accounting team may miss out on a financial element while maintaining the records. The reason being they have a lot of tasks to handle when it comes to accounting and the only way to make sure that no element gets left out in the financial report or schedules is by making them abide by the following practices and in case you manage accounting on your own, you need to follow the same:
- Make a note of every single payment coming in and going out
- Every day check your bank account to have an eye on the balance
- Pay your employees timely
- Keep track of the invoices and plan accordingly
- Forecast expected results based on the current cash flow
- Analyze and compare your annual profit and loss with your forecasts
- Quarterly pay the income tax
Conclusion
These are the most common accounting schedules which hold immense importance and are imperative when it comes to preparing and presenting the financial reports of a company. The length of the schedules and their listings differ greatly from one business to the other. The detailed explanation provided by these schedules helps in clarifying every financial doubt, along with providing greater insights into the financial data for better business decision making.
Kellie Connor
About the Author:
Kellie Connor is a Sr. Business Analyst and certified accounting professional at Cogneesol, a global business accounting services provider. With extensive experience in delivering financial accounting services, she has evolved herself from a professional accountant to a writer and now turned into a highly-focused business strategist who always pens down effective accounting solutions through her writings to the business verticals’ audience.