Items That Belong Wholly to One Period
Chapter Thirty-Two
Syllabus topic 2, "Basis of Apportionment between Pre and Post Incorporation Period"
Pages 96 to 98 of 168
In one line
Some costs could only have arisen after the company existed, and some only before it took over, so they go whole into one column.
The post-incorporation items, and why
| Item | Why it can only be post |
|---|---|
| Directors' fees and remuneration | A director is an officer of a company; before incorporation there was no company and so no board |
| Managing director's remuneration | The same |
| Preliminary expenses written off | These are the costs of bringing the company into existence, so they cannot precede it |
| Formation and registration expenses | The same |
| Debenture interest | The debentures were issued by the company |
| Interest on share capital | There were no shares before incorporation |
| Audit fees for the statutory audit | The statutory audit is a company obligation under the Companies Act |
| Depreciation on an asset bought after incorporation | The asset was not held before |
The pattern is worth naming. Each of these arises out of being a company or out of something the company did. Ask "could a partnership have incurred this?" If not, it is post-incorporation.
The pre-incorporation items, and why
| Item | Why it can only be pre |
|---|---|
| Partners' salaries | The partnership arrangement ended when the business was sold |
| Interest on partners' capital | The same |
| Any expense the vendor bore personally under the agreement | The agreement says so |
These are fewer, because the business itself continued across the incorporation date and most of its costs continued with it. Only the arrangements peculiar to the partnership stop.
The statutory audit fee, and the trap in it
Audit fees appear in two guises and students treat them alike.
A statutory audit fee is a company obligation and belongs wholly to the post period.
An audit fee covering the whole accounting period, where the question presents it as an ordinary running cost, is apportioned on time.
The question decides. Where it says "audit fees" without more, apportion on time and say so; where it says "statutory audit fees of the company", it is post. A one-line reason protects the mark either way.
Interest to the vendor: the one that straddles
Where the purchase consideration is not paid at once, the company usually pays the vendor interest on the outstanding amount from the acquisition date until it is discharged.
That period begins before incorporation and ends after it. So the interest is neither wholly pre nor wholly post, and it is not apportioned on the general time ratio either.
It is split on the months it actually covers.
Worked
A business was acquired with effect from 1 April 2026. The company was incorporated on 1 August 2026 and discharged the consideration of Rs 5,00,000 on 30 November 2026, having agreed to pay interest at 12 per cent per annum from the date of acquisition.
Items That Belong Wholly to One Period
Step one: the total interest.
| Rs | |
|---|---|
| Rs 5,00,000 at 12 per cent for a full year | 60,000 |
| For eight months, 1 April to 30 November | 40,000 |
Step two: split it on its own months.
| Months | Rs | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April to 31 July, pre-incorporation | 4 | 20,000 |
| 1 August to 30 November, post-incorporation | 4 | 20,000 |
| Total | 8 | 40,000 |
Note what just happened. The interest splits 1:1, although the general time ratio for this question is 1:2. Using the time ratio would have put Rs 13,333 in the pre column instead of Rs 20,000, and the error would be invisible in a statement that still balanced.
Show the working. A marker cannot give credit for a split he cannot see the basis of.
Two more that behave the same way
An expense that began part-way through the year. Rent on a second warehouse taken from 1 October is wholly post-incorporation, because the obligation did not exist before.
An expense that ended part-way through. A royalty payable under an agreement the vendor terminated on the sale is wholly pre.
In both, the test is the same: over what months did the obligation actually run?
The check that catches an error here
Add each column of the statement and confirm that every whole-period item appears once and only once.
A quick way: total all the expenses across both columns and compare with the total in the trial balance. They must agree exactly. An item put in both columns, or left out of both, shows up immediately.
What it does NOT mean
Wholly does not mean unusual. Directors' fees appear in almost every question.
Interest to the vendor is not a whole-period item. It straddles, and is split on its own months.
"Post-incorporation" does not mean paid after incorporation. It means it relates to the post-incorporation period; when the cheque was written is irrelevant.
Quick revision
- Post only: directors' and managing director's remuneration, preliminary expenses, formation costs, debenture interest, interest on share capital, statutory audit fees, depreciation on assets bought after incorporation.
- Pre only: partners' salaries, interest on partners' capital, and anything the vendor bore under the agreement.
- The test: could a partnership have incurred this? If not, it is post.
- Interest to the vendor straddles and is split on its own months, not on the general time ratio.
- An obligation beginning or ending mid-year runs only over the months it actually covered.
- Check: the two columns of every expense must add back to the trial balance figure.
Test yourself
1. Why are directors' fees wholly post-incorporation? Because a director is an officer of a company, and before incorporation there was no company and therefore no board to be paid.
Items That Belong Wholly to One Period
2. Give the general test for a post-incorporation item. Whether a partnership could have incurred it; if it could not, because the cost arises out of being a company or out of something the company did, it belongs wholly to the post period.
3. Interest at 12 per cent on Rs 5,00,000 runs from 1 April to 30 November, with incorporation on 1 August. How is it split? The total is Rs 40,000 for eight months, split on its own months as Rs 20,000 to each period, four months falling before incorporation and four after; the general time ratio of 1:2 does not apply.
4. Why is that distinction worth marks? Because using the general time ratio would put Rs 13,333 rather than Rs 20,000 in the pre-incorporation column, and the statement would still balance, so the error is invisible unless the basis is shown.
5. What check catches an item placed in both columns or in neither? Adding the two columns of every expense and comparing the total with the trial balance figure, which must agree exactly.
Answer in one sentence
Which items belong wholly to one period? Those that could only have arisen in that period: directors' and managing director's remuneration, preliminary expenses written off, formation and registration costs, debenture interest, interest on share capital, the statutory audit fee and depreciation on assets bought after incorporation all belong wholly to the post-incorporation period, because each arises out of being a company or out of something the company did and a partnership could not have incurred it; partners' salaries, interest on their capital and anything the vendor bore under the agreement belong wholly to the pre-incorporation period, because the partnership arrangement ended on the sale; and interest payable to the vendor on the unpaid consideration is the exception that straddles both, running from the acquisition date to the date of discharge and being split over the months it actually covers rather than on the general time ratio, a distinction worth marks because using the wrong basis produces a statement that still balances.
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.