From the following information, calculate the amount of subscription to be shown in the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31st March 2024:
| Particulars | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|
| Subscription received during the year 2023-24 | 1,20,000 |
| Outstanding subscription on 1.4.2023 | 8,000 |
| Outstanding subscription on 31.3.2024 | 12,000 |
| Subscription received in advance on 1.4.2023 | 5,000 |
| Subscription received in advance on 31.3.2024 | 7,000 |
Concept understanding — Treatment of Special Items (Subscriptions, Entrance Fees, Life Membership, Donations, Legacies)
A handful of recurring items carry a fixed, well-established treatment that Class 12 problems test repeatedly. Subscription received during the year is adjusted for outstanding and advance amounts at both the start and end of the year to find the figure that actually belongs to the current year — the standard working is: Received during the year − opening outstanding + closing outstanding − closing advance + opening advance.
Entrance/admission fees follow the organisation's stated policy (revenue, capital, or a stated split); Life Membership Fees are always capitalised, added directly to the Capital Fund, with no exceptions. A General Donation, carrying no condition, is revenue income; a Specific Donation, given for a stated purpose, is always capitalised and usually shown as a separate named fund. A Legacy is always a capital receipt. Sale of old newspapers or sports material is revenue income in full; only the profit or loss on the sale of a fixed asset is taken to the Income and Expenditure Account. A government grant follows the purpose it was given for — revenue if for running expenses, capital if for a specific capital project.
The subscription actually collected in cash mixes amounts belonging to last year, this year, and next year, so it must be converted onto the accrual basis before being shown as income.
Adjust the ₹1,20,000 received for the opening and closing outstanding and advance balances to arrive at ₹1,22,000 as the subscription income of the year.
Working: ₹1,20,000 − ₹8,000 (opening outstanding) + ₹12,000 (closing outstanding) − ₹7,000 (closing advance) + ₹5,000 (opening advance) = ₹1,22,000.
Subscription for the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31.3.2024 = ₹1,22,000.
Step 1 — Set up the adjustment working.
| Particulars | ₹ |
|---|---|
| Subscription received during the year 2023-24 | 1,20,000 |
| Less: Outstanding subscription on 1.4.2023 (relates to last year, wrongly included in cash received) | (8,000) |
| Add: Outstanding subscription on 31.3.2024 (relates to this year, not yet received) | 12,000 |
| Less: Subscription received in advance on 31.3.2024 (relates to next year) | (7,000) |
| Add: Subscription received in advance on 1.4.2023 (relates to this year, received last year) | 5,000 |
| Subscription for the Income and Expenditure Account | 1,22,000 |
Step 2 — Compute. 1,20,000 − 8,000 = 1,12,000; + 12,000 = 1,24,000; − 7,000 = 1,17,000; + 5,000 = 1,22,000.
Step 3 — Balance Sheet treatment. The closing outstanding subscription of ₹12,000 will appear as an asset, and the closing advance subscription of ₹7,000 will appear as a liability, in the Balance Sheet as at 31.3.2024.
Subscription to be shown in the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31.3.2024 = ₹1,22,000.
Cross-check using a memorandum Total Subscription Account: Debit side — Balance b/d (opening outstanding) ₹8,000, Income and Expenditure A/c (balancing figure) ₹1,22,000, Balance c/d (closing advance) ₹7,000, total ₹1,37,000. Credit side — Balance b/d (opening advance) ₹5,000, Cash/Bank received ₹1,20,000, Balance c/d (closing outstanding) ₹12,000, total ₹1,37,000. Both sides agree at ₹1,37,000, confirming ₹1,22,000 is correct.
A common mistake is adding the opening outstanding subscription instead of subtracting it, or forgetting to add back the opening advance subscription — both errors change the answer by the same amount as the ignored figure. Always write out all four adjustment lines rather than combining them mentally.
- CBSE 2026Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Legacy is a :(a) Revenue receipt(b) Revenue expenditure(c) Capital receipt(d) Capital expenditure
›Reveal solutionSolution
Legacy = amount received under a will, non-recurring → capital receipt. Option (c).
In the accounts of a not-for-profit organisation, a legacy is a gift of money or property left to the organisation by a deceased person through a will.
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It is non-recurring and does not arise from the regular activities of the organisation, so it is a capital receipt and is normally added to the Capital Fund in the Balance Sheet.
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(A legacy of small/recurring nature may sometimes be taken to Income and Expenditure, but the general classification, and the correct option here, is capital receipt.)
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It is not a revenue receipt/expenditure or capital expenditure.
✓Final answerOption (c) Capital receipt — a legacy, being a non-recurring amount received under a will, is a capital receipt (usually added to the Capital Fund).
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- CBSE 2025Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.There are 500 members in a Club each paying ₹ 100 as Annual Subscription. Subscription due but not received for the Current year is ₹ 200; Subscription received in advance is ₹ 300. Find out the amount of Subscription to be shown in the Income and Expenditure account.(a) ₹ 49,900(b) ₹ 50,000(c) ₹ 49,800(d) ₹ 50,200
›Reveal solutionSolution
The subscription to be shown in the Income and Expenditure Account is ₹ 50,000.
The Income and Expenditure Account of a club records the subscription earned for the current year on an accrual basis (Accounts of Not-for-Profit Organisation, TN HSC Commerce).
Annual subscription due for the year = 500 members × ₹ 100 = ₹ 50,000.
This ₹ 50,000 is the amount relating to the current year. The ₹ 200 due but not received is still current-year income (it is already part of the ₹ 50,000, only not yet collected), and the ₹ 300 received in advance relates to the next year, so it is excluded. Therefore the figure shown in the Income and Expenditure Account is ₹ 50,000.
✓Final answerOption (b) ₹ 50,000 — the subscription credited to the Income and Expenditure Account for the current year.
- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Choose the incorrect pair.(a) Sale of old sports materials - Capital receipt(b) General donation - Revenue receipt(c) Subscription for billiards - Revenue receipt(d) Specific donation - Capital receipt
›Reveal solutionSolution
Sale of old sports materials is a revenue receipt, so pairing it with "capital receipt" is wrong.
In the TN HSC Class-12 Accountancy syllabus (Accounts of Not-for-Profit Organisation), receipts are split into capital and revenue:
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(a) Sale of old sports materials — Capital receipt: Incorrect. Old sports materials are consumable items already treated as expense/revenue nature; their sale is a small, recurring receipt and is treated as a revenue receipt, credited to the Income & Expenditure A/c.
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(b) General donation — Revenue receipt: correct (a general, small donation not for a specific purpose is revenue income).
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(c) Subscription for billiards — Revenue receipt: correct (a recurring membership-type receipt).
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(d) Specific donation — Capital receipt: correct (a donation for a specified purpose is capitalised).
✓Final answerOption (a) — sale of old sports materials should be a revenue receipt, so the pair is incorrect.
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- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Subscription due but not received for the current year is :(a) An Expense(b) An Asset(c) An item to be ignored(d) A Liability
›Reveal solutionSolution
Subscription due but not received for the current year is an asset (outstanding subscription) — option (b).
Under the accrual basis, the whole subscription earned for the current year is credited to the Income and Expenditure Account, whether collected or not. The portion that has been earned but is still to be received is called outstanding (accrued) subscription. Because the organisation has a right to receive this money, it is a current asset shown on the assets side of the Balance Sheet.
It is not an expense (it is income earned), it cannot be ignored (that would understate income), and it is not a liability (a liability would arise only for subscription received in advance for a future year).
✓Final answerOption (b) An Asset. Outstanding subscription is income of the current year still receivable, so it is added to subscription in the Income and Expenditure Account and shown as a current asset in the Balance Sheet.
- CBSE 2023Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.There are 300 members in a club each paying ₹ 100 as annual subscription. Subscription due but not received for the Current Year is ₹ 200. Subscription received in advance is ₹ 300. Find out the amount of subscription to be shown in the Income and Expenditure account.(a) ₹ 29,900(b) ₹ 30,000(c) ₹ 30,100(d) ₹ 30,700
›Reveal solutionSolution
Subscription for the Income and Expenditure account = 300 members × ₹100 = ₹30,000 (the amount earned for the current year).
The Income and Expenditure account follows the accrual concept — it records the subscription earned for the current year, regardless of when cash is received.
- Amount due for the year = 300 members × ₹100 = ₹30,000.
- The ₹200 due but not received is part of this ₹30,000 (it belongs to the current year, just not yet collected), so no separate addition is needed.
- The ₹300 received in advance belongs to next year, so it is excluded from the current year's income.
Hence the subscription shown in the Income and Expenditure account = ₹30,000. This subscription treatment is a standard test in the Tamil Nadu HSC Class-12 Accountancy not-for-profit organisation chapter.
✓Final answerOption (b) ₹30,000.
- CBSE 2023Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Find the odd one out from the following.(a) Audit fees(b) Electricity charges(c) Life membership fees(d) Telephone charges
›Reveal solutionSolution
Audit fees, electricity charges and telephone charges are all revenue expenditure, but life membership fees is a capital receipt — so option (c) is the odd one out.
In the Accounts of Not-for-Profit Organisation topic of the TN HSC Commerce syllabus, items are classified as revenue or capital:
- Audit fees — a recurring expense → revenue expenditure (debited to Income and Expenditure A/c).
- Electricity charges — a recurring running expense → revenue expenditure.
- Telephone charges — a recurring running expense → revenue expenditure.
- Life membership fees — a lump sum paid once by a member for lifelong membership; it is a capital receipt added to the Capital Fund (or treated per instructions), not an expense.
Three items are of the same nature (revenue expenses shown on the debit side of the Income and Expenditure Account), while life membership fees is different in nature (a receipt, and a capital one at that). Hence it is the odd one out.
✓Final answerOption (c) Life membership fees — it is a capital receipt, unlike the other three which are all revenue expenses.
- CBSE 2022Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Donation received for a specific purpose is ________.(a) Revenue expenditure(b) Revenue receipt(c) Capital expenditure(d) Capital receipt
›Reveal solutionSolution
A donation received for a specific purpose is a capital receipt.
In the Tamil Nadu HSC Class-12 Accountancy syllabus, donations to a not-for-profit organisation are of two kinds:
- General donation of a small/recurring amount → treated as revenue receipt, credited to the Income and Expenditure Account.
- Specific (special-purpose) donation — received for a stated purpose such as a building fund or prize fund → treated as a capital receipt, credited to a separate fund and shown on the liabilities side of the Balance Sheet; it can be spent only on that purpose.
Since the donation here is tied to a specific purpose, it is a capital receipt, not revenue income or expenditure.
✓Final answerOption (d) Capital receipt.
- CBSE 2020Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.There are 500 members in a club each paying ₹ 100 as annual subscription. Subscription due but not received for the current year is ₹ 200. Subscription received in advance is ₹ 300. Find out the amount of subscription to be shown in the income and expenditure account.(a) ₹ 49,800(b) ₹ 50,000(c) ₹ 50,200(d) ₹ 49,900
›Reveal solutionSolution
Subscription for the year = 500 members × ₹100 = ₹50,000, so option (b) is correct.
In the Income and Expenditure Account we show the subscription earned for the current year, not the cash actually received. When every one of the 500 members pays an annual subscription of ₹100, the amount earned for the year is fixed:
500 × ₹100 = ₹50,000.
The extra data given are distractors here, because the ₹50,000 already represents the full year's income for all 500 members:
- Subscription due but not received (₹200) is part of this ₹50,000 (income earned, cash still to come).
- Subscription received in advance (₹300) belongs to next year and is excluded from this year's income — but it is already outside the ₹50,000 current-year figure.
So the amount credited to the Income and Expenditure Account for the current year is ₹50,000.
✓Final answerOption (b) ₹ 50,000.
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