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Income & Expenditure Account

Exam code: 7707
Written by: Ashika|Reviewed by: Caroline Carroll|Updated 2 July 2026

Income & expenditure accounts

Income & expenditure accounts

What is an income and expenditure account?

  • An income and expenditure account is a statement that calculates the surplus or deficit

    • A surplus is comparable to a profit for a business

    • A deficit is comparable to a loss for a business

      • Clubs and societies do not operate to make a profit so the terms profit and loss are not used

  • The total expenses are subtracted from the income

    • If the income is greater than the expenses then there is a surplus

    • If the income is less than the expenses then there is a deficit

  • The income and expenditure account is similar to an income statement of a business

    • Only expenses and income are included

    • Assets and liabilities are not included

  • Adjustments are made for:

    • Depreciation of non-current assets

    • Accruals and prepayments of expenses and income

    • Any subscriptions which are written off

What are the differences between a receipts and payments account and an income and expenditure account?

  • The differences are summarised in the total

Receipts and payments account

Income and expenditure account

Includes only money that is received or paid

Includes only income and expenses

Includes only transactions involving money

Includes transactions involving non-monetary items such as depreciation

Includes both capital and revenue receipts and expenditure

Includes only revenue receipts and expenditure

Does not include adjustments for accruals or prepayments of expenses and income

Includes adjustments for accruals or prepayments of expenses and income

The closing balance represents the bank balance or amount of cash

The final amount represents the surplus or deficit

What is the layout of an income and expenditure account?

  • The account is prepared in a similar way as the profit section of the income statement for other types of businesses

  • Deal with any adjustments

    • Accruals

      • Subtract accruals from the previous year

      • Add accruals at the end of the current year

    • Prepayments

      • Add prepayments from the previous year

      • Subtract prepayments at the end of the current year

    • Calculate any depreciation charges

  • List the income first

    • If there are any associated costs with a source of income then these should be subtracted in this section

      • For example, income from a competition should subtract the cost of the competition's prizes

    • Include any profits calculated on the income statements for any trading activities

  • List the expenditure next

    • Include any losses calculated on the income statements for any trading activities

    • Do not include expenses related to specific trading activities

      • These will be included in the income statements for those activities and will contribute to the profit or loss

  • Find the surplus or deficit of the year by subtracting the two totals

Layout of an income and expenditure account
Layout of an income and expenditure account