Current and Non-current: the Classification That Drives the Format
Chapter Forty-Six
Syllabus topic 4, "Schedule III of the Companies Act, 2013"
Pages 142 to 144 of 168
In one line
An asset or a liability is current if it meets any one of four tests, and non-current if it meets none of them.
The four tests for an asset
Schedule III, general instructions for the balance sheet, instruction 1. An asset shall be classified as current when it satisfies any of the following criteria:
| Test | In plain terms | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | It is expected to be realised in, or is intended for sale or consumption in, the company's normal operating cycle | It is part of the trading round |
| (b) | It is held primarily for the purpose of being traded | It is stock in substance |
| (c) | It is expected to be realised within twelve months after the reporting date | It turns to cash inside a year |
| (d) | It is cash or a cash equivalent, unless it is restricted from being exchanged or used to settle a liability for at least twelve months after the reporting date | It is money now |
All other assets shall be classified as non-current.
Any one is enough. The criteria are alternatives, not conditions, and the word in the Schedule is "any".
The four tests for a liability
Instruction 3. A liability shall be classified as current when it satisfies any of the following:
| Test | |
|---|---|
| (a) | It is expected to be settled in the company's normal operating cycle |
| (b) | It is held primarily for the purpose of being traded |
| (c) | It is due to be settled within twelve months after the reporting date |
| (d) | The company does not have an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date |
All other liabilities shall be classified as non-current.
And a sentence attached to (d) that students misread: terms of a liability that could, at the option of the counterparty, result in its settlement by the issue of equity instruments, do not affect its classification. So a convertible debenture is not made current merely because the holder may convert it.
The operating cycle
Instruction 2 defines it.
An operating cycle is the time between the acquisition of assets for processing and their realisation in cash or cash equivalents. Where the normal operating cycle cannot be identified, it is assumed to have a duration of twelve months.
Why this matters more than the twelve-month test. Test (a) is about the operating cycle, and test (c) is about twelve months. They are different tests, and the first can be longer than the second.
Take a shipbuilder whose operating cycle is thirty months. Raw material bought today will be consumed in that cycle, so it is a current asset under test (a), even though it will not be realised within twelve months and so fails test (c). The same follows for the amount owed to the yard's suppliers, which is settled within the cycle and so is a current liability under (a).
Current and Non-current: the Classification That Drives the Format
And where the cycle cannot be identified, it is twelve months by assumption, which is why in nearly every examination problem the operating cycle and the twelve months coincide, and the distinction never has to be drawn. But you should be able to draw it if asked.
Trade receivables and trade payables
Instructions 4 and 5 define them, and the definition is about the transaction, not about the time.
| Definition | |
|---|---|
| Trade receivable | A receivable in respect of the amount due on account of goods sold or services rendered in the normal course of business |
| Trade payable | A payable in respect of the amount due on account of goods purchased or services received in the normal course of business |
So an amount owed by a customer is a trade receivable however long it takes to collect, and a loan given to an employee is not a trade receivable however quickly it comes back. The head is decided by what created the balance.
A trade receivable can be non-current. If a debt is not expected to be realised within twelve months and falls outside the operating cycle, it goes under long-term loans and advances or other non-current assets, not among current assets. That is the combination examiners like to test, and it is the reason to apply the four tests separately from the trade or non-trade label.
Working the classification
Take a trading company with a twelve-month operating cycle at 31 March 2027.
| Item | Test that decides it | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Stock in trade | (a), consumed in the operating cycle | Current asset |
| Debtors, collectible in two months | (a) and (c) | Current asset, trade receivable |
| Fixed deposit maturing 30 June 2027 | (c), within twelve months | Current asset, current investment or other current asset |
| Fixed deposit maturing 30 June 2029 | Fails all four | Non-current asset |
| Bank balance in a lien account, released 2030 | (d) fails, restricted for more than twelve months | Non-current asset |
| Machinery | Fails all four | Non-current asset |
| Creditors for goods | (a) | Current liability, trade payable |
| Ten-year debentures issued in 2020 | Fails all four | Non-current liability, long-term borrowing |
| The instalment of those debentures due 30 Sep 2027 | (c) | Current liability, current maturity of long-term debt |
| Provision for gratuity, payable on retirement | Fails all four | Long-term provision |
| Provision for tax for the year | (c) | Short-term provision |
The debenture row is the one to study. The same borrowing splits: the part falling due within twelve months is a current liability, the rest is non-current. Schedule III says so expressly under short-term borrowings, where instruction (v) requires current maturities of long-term borrowings to be disclosed separately.
Current and Non-current: the Classification That Drives the Format
The commonest errors
| Error | Why it is wrong |
|---|---|
| Treating the four tests as cumulative | The Schedule says any; one test satisfied is enough |
| Classifying by the name of the account | A "deposit" may be either; the test decides |
| Forgetting the current maturity split | The instalment due within a year is current, however long the loan |
| Making a convertible debenture current because it may be converted | Conversion at the counterparty's option does not affect classification |
| Using twelve months where the operating cycle is longer | Test (a) governs where the cycle is identifiable |
| Calling every debtor a current asset | A debtor outside the cycle and beyond twelve months is non-current |
Why the format depends on it
Look at the shape of Part I. Equity and liabilities are grouped as shareholders' funds, share application money pending allotment, non-current liabilities and current liabilities. Assets are grouped as non-current assets and current assets.
Six of the eight groups are named by this classification. So the classification is not a refinement applied after the balance sheet is drawn; it is the thing that draws it. Get it wrong and the totals still agree, which is exactly why an examiner can award or withhold marks on it without the student noticing anything is amiss.
What to write in the exam
If asked to explain current and non-current, give the four asset tests, the residual rule, the four liability tests, the residual rule, the operating cycle definition with the twelve-month assumption, and the equity-settlement sentence. Then give three or four worked classifications like the table above.
If a problem gives you an operating cycle, say in one line which test you are applying to each doubtful item. It is worth the ink, because it shows the examiner the reasoning that the finished balance sheet hides.
The line to remember
Ask "does it turn over in the cycle, or inside a year?" If yes on either, it is current. Everything else is non-current, and the Schedule never says more than that.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.