Voyage accounts notes for semster 1?
Introduction
Voyage accounts refer to the accounting records and financial statements that are prepared for a shipping or transportation company. These accounts are essential for managing the financial aspects of a voyage, including revenue, expenses, and profit. In this article, we will discuss the key points and important aspects of voyage accounts for semester 1.
1. Definition and Purpose of Voyage Accounts:
- Voyage accounts are a specialized form of accounting that focuses on the financial transactions related to shipping and transportation.
- The purpose of voyage accounts is to track and record the financial performance of a specific voyage or journey undertaken by a ship or transportation vessel.
- These accounts help in analyzing the revenue, expenses, and profitability of each voyage, allowing the management to make informed decisions.
2. Components of Voyage Accounts:
- Revenue: The income generated from the transportation of goods or passengers is recorded as revenue in voyage accounts.
- Expenses: Various expenses incurred during the voyage, such as fuel, crew wages, maintenance costs, port charges, and insurance, are recorded in this category.
- Gross Profit/Loss: The difference between revenue and expenses gives the gross profit or loss for a particular voyage.
- Overhead Expenses: Fixed expenses that are not directly related to a specific voyage, such as administrative costs, are recorded separately.
- Net Profit/Loss: The net profit or loss is obtained by deducting overhead expenses from the gross profit or loss.
3. Importance of Voyage Accounts:
- Helps in Cost Control: Voyage accounts enable the management to track and control the expenses associated with each voyage, ensuring cost efficiency.
- Performance Evaluation: By analyzing the revenue and expenses of each voyage, the company can evaluate the performance and profitability of different routes or vessels.
- Decision Making: Voyage accounts provide valuable financial information that helps in making decisions regarding fleet expansion, route selection, pricing strategies, and resource allocation.
- Compliance with Reporting Standards: Voyage accounts are prepared in accordance with accounting standards and regulations, ensuring transparency and compliance with financial reporting requirements.
Conclusion
Voyage accounts play a crucial role in the financial management of shipping and transportation companies. These accounts help in tracking revenue, expenses, and profitability on a voyage-by-voyage basis, allowing the management to analyze performance, control costs, and make informed decisions. Understanding the components and importance of voyage accounts is essential for students studying B.Com in semester 1.
Voyage accounts notes for semster 1?
All expenses connected with the voyage, such as port charges, wages and salaries of the crew, captain and other staff, transshipment, agency fees, provisions, loading and unloading charges, bunker and harbour wages, freight and insurance, insurance of the ship on a time policy according to duration of voyage, depreciation arising as a result of the journey, address commission paid to brokers for freight for the ship, commission to captain on net profit etc. are debited to concerned Voyage Account.
All incomes such as freight on cargo carried, passage money, primate etc. are credited.
Following are some of the items of income and expenditure peculiar to Voyage Accounts.
Accounting Entries- Debit and Credit:
Voyage Account is debited usually with the following items:
1.Bunker Cost
This is the expenditure incurred on fuel oil, diesel, coal and fresh water during the voyage.Now -a- days oil and diesel are used in the place of coal is referred to as bunker hence the name is called bunker costs.
2. Port Charges:
Port is used by the shipping companies for loading and unloading of goods and parking of ships, hence the charges paid for these purposes are known as port charges.
3. Depreciation:
Depreciation of the ship for the period of voyage is calculated and charged to the Voyage Account.
4. Insurance:
Insurance premium of cargo must be entirely debited to the concerned Voyage Account whereas the insurance charges of the ship are charged proportionately to each voyage on the basis of time of voyage.
5. Address commission and brokerage:
This is payable to the brokers and agents who help the shipping company in procurement of cargo, i.e., freight or business. This is calculated at a certain per cent of the freight earned including the primage or surcharge and debited to Voyage Account. Address commission is payable to the Charterer whereas brokerage is payable to the agent of the charterer.
6. Stevedoring Charges:
The expenses which are incurred in loading of goods on the ships and unloading of goods from the ships are known as stevedoring charges.
7. Port Charges:
These are the charges paid to port authorities for allowing the ship to use the port either for loading or unloading the cargo.
8. Salaries and wages of the crew, captain and other staff.
9. Harbour charges
10. Manager’s commission, if any.
Voyage Account is credited usually with the following items:
1. Freight:
The amount which is charged by the shipping companies for taking goods or cargo from one place to another is called freight. It is an income.
2. Primage:
It is additional freight just like surcharge on freight originally collected for the captain of the ship, now-a-days it is treated as income of the shipping company.
3. Passage Money:
Fare collected from the passengers travelled in addition to the fare collected for merchandise.
4. Closing Stocks of Stores, Provisions, Coal, Fuel etc.
Generally, voyage profit represents the excess of voyage incomes earned over the expenses incurred for this purpose. But if, however, the voyage is in progress, the incomes and expenses relating to the unfinished voyage are carried forward to the next year.
Excess of credit side of Voyage Account over its debit side is profit on the voyage. Excess of debit side of Voyage Account over its credit side is loss on the voyage. This profit or loss is transferred to General Profit and Loss Account of the shipping company.