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🇵🇰 PIPFA · subject
PIPFA Basic Accounting Syllabus
Every chapter and topic of Basic Accounting examined in PIPFA — 8 chapters, 20 topics, plus 51 flashcards written against it.
Basic Accounting syllabus — full chapter and topic list
Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Basic Accounting in PIPFA, not a summary of it.
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Introduction to Accounting
3 topics- Nature and Scope of Accounting
- Accounting Concepts and Conventions
- Business Transactions and Source Documents
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Double Entry Book Keeping
3 topics- Accounting Equation
- Rules of Debit and Credit
- Journal and Ledger
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Books of Prime Entry
2 topics- Sales and Purchase Records
- Cash Book and Petty Cash
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Bank Reconciliation
2 topics- Causes of Difference
- Preparation of Reconciliation Statement
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Trial Balance and Errors
3 topics- Preparation of Trial Balance
- Types of Errors
- Suspense Account and Rectification
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Adjustments and Closing Entries
3 topics- Accruals and Prepayments
- Depreciation
- Bad Debts and Provisions
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Final Accounts
2 topics- Trading and Profit and Loss Account
- Balance Sheet
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Non-Trading Concerns
2 topics- Receipts and Payments Account
- Income and Expenditure Account
Basic Accounting flashcards for PIPFA
25 of 51 cards from the Basic Accounting deck — real questions with worked answers.
What is accounting?
The process of identifying, recording, classifying, summarizing, and communicating financial information about an entity to permit informed judgments and decisions by users.
Distinguish between bookkeeping and accounting.
Bookkeeping is the routine recording of financial transactions in the books. Accounting is broader: it includes bookkeeping plus classifying, summarizing, interpreting, and communicating the results.
Name the main branches of accounting.
Financial accounting, cost accounting, and management accounting (also auditing and tax accounting).
Who are the internal and external users of accounting information?
Internal: owners/management and employees. External: investors, lenders, creditors/suppliers, customers, government/tax authorities, and the public.
State the going concern concept.
The assumption that a business will continue to operate for the foreseeable future and has no intention or need to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of its operations.
State the business entity (separate entity) concept.
The business is treated as separate and distinct from its owner(s); only the transactions of the business are recorded in its books, not the owner's private affairs.
State the money measurement concept.
Only transactions and events that can be expressed in monetary terms are recorded in accounting; non-monetary facts (e.g. staff morale) are excluded.
State the accrual (matching) concept.
Revenues are recognized when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash is received or paid; expenses are matched against the revenues they help generate.
State the dual aspect concept.
Every transaction has two aspects—a debit and a credit of equal amount—so the accounting equation always remains in balance.
What is the prudence (conservatism) convention?
Anticipate no profit but provide for all possible losses; assets/income are not overstated and liabilities/expenses are not understated.
What is the consistency convention?
Accounting methods and policies once adopted should be applied consistently from period to period to allow comparability; changes should be justified and disclosed.
What is the materiality convention?
Only items significant enough to influence the decisions of users need to be separately disclosed or treated strictly; trivial items may be handled in the most convenient way.
State the historical cost concept.
Assets are recorded at their original acquisition cost rather than at current market or replacement value.
What is the realization concept?
Revenue is recognized (realized) at the point a sale is made or a service is rendered, i.e. when goods/services pass to the customer, not when cash is received.
What is a business transaction?
An economic event or exchange, measurable in money, that affects the financial position of a business and is recorded in its books (e.g. a sale, purchase, or payment).
What is a source document? Give examples.
The original written evidence of a transaction that forms the basis for recording. Examples: invoice, receipt, debit note, credit note, cheque, pay-in slip, voucher.
What is the difference between an invoice and a receipt?
An invoice is a demand for payment issued by the seller listing goods/services and amounts due; a receipt acknowledges that payment has actually been received.
When is a debit note versus a credit note issued?
A debit note is issued by a buyer when returning goods to a supplier (or to demand a reduction); a credit note is issued by a seller to acknowledge goods returned by a customer / reduce the amount owed.
State the accounting equation.
Assets = Liabilities + Capital (Owner's Equity).
Rewrite the accounting equation to show capital.
Capital = Assets − Liabilities.
How does the expanded accounting equation incorporate profit and drawings?
Assets = Liabilities + Capital + (Revenue − Expenses) − Drawings; profit increases capital and drawings reduce it.
Define an asset and give the two main categories.
An asset is a resource owned/controlled by the business expected to give future economic benefit. Categories: non-current (fixed) assets and current assets.
Define a liability and give the two main categories.
A liability is a present obligation/amount owed by the business to outsiders. Categories: non-current (long-term) liabilities and current liabilities.
State the rules of debit and credit for assets and expenses.
Assets and expenses: increase by debit, decrease by credit.
State the rules of debit and credit for liabilities, capital and income.
Liabilities, capital, and income: increase by credit, decrease by debit.
Planning Basic Accounting for PIPFA
Basic Accounting is about 11% of the PIPFA syllabus by topic count — 20 of 174 topics, spread over 8 chapters. At roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, a first pass runs to about 15 hours.
The heaviest chapters are Introduction to Accounting (3 topics), Double Entry Book Keeping (3 topics), Trial Balance and Errors (3 topics) . Front-load those while your energy is high; the short chapters are better revision filler later.
Work top-down: read the chapter, then tick topics off individually rather than marking the whole chapter done. Sub-topics are where silent gaps hide.
Basic Accounting (PIPFA) FAQ
What is in the PIPFA Basic Accounting syllabus?
Basic Accounting is split into 8 chapters — Introduction to Accounting, Double Entry Book Keeping, Books of Prime Entry, Bank Reconciliation, Trial Balance and Errors and Adjustments and Closing Entries, and 2 more, containing 20 topics and 0 sub-topics in total.
How many chapters are there in Basic Accounting for PIPFA?
8 chapters. Basic Accounting accounts for about 11% of the topics in the whole PIPFA syllabus (20 of 174).
How long should I spend on Basic Accounting for PIPFA?
Budget around 15 hours for a first pass through Basic Accounting — about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic across its 20 topics. Add revision cycles on top.
Are there flashcards for PIPFA Basic Accounting?
Yes — a 51-card Basic Accounting deck. Sample cards are printed on this page, and the full deck is free in the Examius app with spaced repetition scheduling.