Q.From the following Balance Sheet extracts, prepare a Comparative Balance Sheet:
Equity share capital: 2023 ₹5,00,000; 2024 ₹6,00,000.
Reserves and surplus: 2023 ₹2,00,000; 2024 ₹3,00,000.
Long-term borrowings: 2023 ₹3,00,000; 2024 ₹2,00,000.
Non-current (fixed) assets: 2023 ₹7,00,000; 2024 ₹7,50,000.
Current assets: 2023 ₹3,00,000; 2024 ₹3,50,000.

A comparative balance sheet sets each item of the two dates side by side and shows the absolute and percentage change on the earlier-year base.

Step 1 — Compute the totals for each year.

Total of equity and liabilities = equity share capital + reserves and surplus + long-term borrowings.

• 2023: 5,00,000 + 2,00,000 + 3,00,000 = 10,00,000; 2024: 6,00,000 + 3,00,000 + 2,00,000 = 11,00,000. Total assets = non-current assets + current assets.
• 2023: 7,00,000 + 3,00,000 = 10,00,000; 2024: 7,50,000 + 3,50,000 = 11,00,000. Both sides balance in each year, as they must.

Step 2 — For each item compute absolute change and % change on the 2023 base.

Sample computations: Equity share capital % = 1,00,000 ÷ 5,00,000 × 100 = 20%; Reserves % = 1,00,000 ÷ 2,00,000 × 100 = 50%; Long-term borrowings % = (−1,00,000) ÷ 3,00,000 × 100 = −33.33%; Current assets % = 50,000 ÷ 3,00,000 × 100 = 16.67%. …

Students often show the decrease in long-term borrowings as a positive change or a positive percentage — a fall must be shown as a negative figure/percentage (in brackets). Another frequent slip is not verifying that the two sides balance; if the totals of the equity …