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Microlesson · 5-min read

Working Notes for Cash Flow: T-Account Method for Deriving Cash Figures

## T-Account Method — Deriving Cash Receipts and Payments

When a problem provides total sales/purchases (or opening/closing balances of debtors/creditors) without directly stating cash amounts, construct T-accounts to derive the missing cash figures.

### Step 1 — Split Sales and Purchases Between Cash and Credit

```

Credit Sales = Total Sales − Cash Sales

Credit Purchases = Total Purchases − Cash Purchases

```

If only the total is given and the split is unknown, treat the entire amount as going through the respective T-account.

### Step 2 — Trade Receivables (Debtors) T-Account

```

Trade Receivables A/c

Dr Cr

────────────────────────────────────────

Opening Balance X │ Cash Received ? ← balancing figure

Credit Sales (P&L) X │ Closing Balance X

────────────────────────────────────────

Total = Total

```

Formula:

$$\text{Cash Received from Debtors} = \text{Opening TR} + \text{Credit Sales} - \text{Closing TR}$$

### Step 3 — Trade Payables (Creditors) T-Account

```

Trade Payables A/c

Dr Cr

────────────────────────────────────────

Cash Paid ? │ Opening Balance X ← balancing figure

Closing Balance X │ Credit Purchases X

────────────────────────────────────────

Total = Total

```

Formula:

$$\text{Cash Paid to Creditors} = \text{Opening TP} + \text{Credit Purchases} - \text{Closing TP}$$

### Step 4 — Total Cash Flows for the Statement

```

Total Cash Received = Cash Sales + Cash from Debtors T-account

Total Cash Paid = Cash Purchases + Cash to Creditors T-account

```

### Additional Special Working Notes

Loans (to distinguish new borrowings from repayments):

```

Loan A/c

Dr Cr

Repayment (cash) X │ Opening Balance X

Closing Balance X │ New Loan Raised X ← balancing

```

PPE purchased partly by exchange of old asset:

Only the cash portion paid is a cash outflow in Section B. The book value of the asset given in exchange is non-cash and must be excluded.

Debentures redeemed at premium:

Cash paid = Face Value + Redemption Premium (both are cash outflows in Section C).

Worked example

### Example 1

Illus 11 — Deriving Cash Figures via T-Accounts (₹ Crores)

Given: Total Sales = ₹135 cr (Cash Sales ₹81 cr, Credit Sales ₹54 cr)

Given: Total Purchases = ₹55 cr (Cash Purchases ₹11 cr, Credit Purchases ₹44 cr)

Debtors: Opening ₹45 cr, Closing ₹50 cr

Creditors: Opening ₹21 cr, Closing ₹23 cr

Trade Receivables T-Account (crores):

```

Dr Cr

Opening: 45 │ Cash Received: 49 ← balancing

Credit Sales: 54 │ Closing: 50

─── ───

99 99 ✓

```

Cash received from Debtors = 45 + 54 − 50 = ₹49 cr

Trade Payables T-Account (crores):

```

Dr Cr

Cash Paid: 42 │ Opening: 21 ← balancing

Closing: 23 │ Credit Purch: 44

─── ───

65 65 ✓

```

Cash paid to Creditors = 21 + 44 − 23 = ₹42 cr

Cash Flow from Operations (Direct Method):

Item₹ cr
Cash Sales81
Cash received from Trade Receivables49
Less: Cash Purchases(11)
Less: Cash paid to Trade Payables(42)
Less: Admin Expenses(18)
Less: Salaries(2)
Cash Generated from Operations57
Less: Income Tax Paid(37)
Net CF from Operating Activities20 cr

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

  • Placing credit sales on the wrong side of the Debtors T-account — credit sales INCREASE debtors, so they go on the DEBIT side (Dr side)
  • Using total sales (cash + credit) in the Debtors T-account — only credit sales pass through the debtors account; cash sales bypass it entirely
  • For PPE acquired by part-exchange of old asset, treating the full value of the new asset as a cash outflow — only the cash consideration paid is an outflow; the exchange value is a non-cash transaction to be disclosed separately
  • Omitting the opening balance from the T-account — failing to include opening debtors/creditors causes the balancing (cash) figure to be understated or overstated
Reference:
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