The P&L contra account and its role in the production process
The P&L contra account is a component of accounting and is closely related to the Profit and loss account (P&L). It acts as a counterpart to the account Work in progress (WIA) and is used to map inventory changes and changes in value during the production process.
Main features of the P&L contra account:
- It is used for accounting recording of the production process and ensures the correct mapping of production processes in accounting.
- It is used for Changes in inventories and values during the production used.
- It transfers the value of work in progress to the account Inventory of goods and thus plays a central role in the Continuous inventory management.
The income statement contra account is only capitalised if the Document settings the option Posting with balance sheet and P&L accounts? on the tab Per receipt is activated. Typically, it is used to recognise the value of raw materials or work in progress during production between the WIA account and transferred to the stock account. At the end of the production process, the value of finished goods is transferred back to the inventory account. Stock account.
Other accounting mechanisms
Use of additional accounts:
- WE/RE clearing account: Serves as a contra account for goods receipts and returns. The balance shows outstanding amounts for these transactions.
- Variance account: Used in warehouse management systems with a standard price to record differences between the standard price and the actual price.
- Price difference account: Activated when the stock of an item is reduced to zero. It records the difference between the transaction amount and the cumulative value of the item.
Inventory review report and transaction presentation:
- Each disposal and acquisition transaction is listed separately in the journal entry. Negative and positive variances in the inventory value are not consolidated but shown in separate lines.
- The stock check report provides an overview of the stock quantities of an item on a specific key date, based on the calculation method (creation date or posting date).
Customer and sales bookings
All sales to customers are recorded in a collective account to make the current total turnover easy to track. At the same time, the corresponding transactions are posted to the respective customer accounts to enable clear allocation.
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