Kharakoz L.V., Rieznik M.A., Vasileva Yu.S.
Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine
SOME PROBLEMS OF DEFINING ENTERPRISE RECEIVABLES
Relationships of enterprises, organizations, institutions and population determined by the market activity are of monetary nature. These relationships are based on the use of money depending on its functions as a means of circulation and payment. Thus, enterprises are suppliers for some entities and they are customers for others.
Organization of accounting of receivables at an enterprise of any type of ownership is important, as it contributes to sorting information, to transparency and reliability of information on payment operations with debt rights (with debtors).
There are a lot of opinions about the problem of defining the concept of "accounts receivable".
Thus, the authors of the financial dictionary Zagorodnij A.G., Vozniuk G.L., Smovzhenko T.S. [9] define indebtedness as an amount of financial obligations or money debt to be settled. The concept of debt given in the economic dictionary [15], which says that indebtedness is an amount of unfulfilled obligations, active debt, is similar.
According to the Accounting Standards 10 "Receivables", debtors are legal entities and physical persons that owe a certain amount of money, cash equivalents or other assets as a result of past events. Thus, this standard defines receivables as an amount of debtors’ liabilities to the company for the certain date [1].
According to the Accounting Standards 13 "Financial Instruments", accounts receivable are one of the types of financial assets and are defined as a contract that gives the right to receive cash assets or other financial assets from another enterprise [2].
The supporters of another opinion consider accounts to be direct relationships (without using the word "system"). The third group of scientists explains the economic character of accounts without defining them [15].
It should be noted that foreign and domestic scientists define the term "indebtedness" in different ways. The interpretation of this concept by different researchers is given in table 1.
Table 1. Approaches to the definition of receivables
Author / Source |
Definition |
Accounting Standards 10 "Receivables" [16] |
Accounts receivable are an amount of debt to an enterprise upon the certain date. |
Golov S. F. [7] |
Accounts receivable are a financial asset that is a contract right of one side to receive money and the corresponding obligation of another side to pay it. |
Belozertsev V. [4] |
Accounts receivable are a money result of forced or planned business and economic operations of credit nature with contractors, that was in the past, and the debt can be determined, coordinated with the contractor and paid to the company in the future, and is currently shown in the balance sheet as an asset . |
Stone D., Hitching К. [17] |
Accounts receivable are an amount of debts that legal entities or physicalpersons are due to pay to the enterprise and that are a result of economic relations with them. |
Raizberg B. A., Lozovskii L. Sh., Starodubtseva E. B. [17] |
Accounts receivable are a amount of debts, that are fixed to an enterprise, firm, company by other enterprises, firms, companies, and also to the citizens, that are the debtors of this enterprise. |
Lyschenko A. G. [12] |
Accounts receivable are a financial asset that is a contractual right to receive money or securities from another company. |
Momot T. [14] |
Accounts receivable are interest free loans to contractors. |
Krainih О.P., Klepikova Z. V. [11] |
Accounts receivable are a form of deferring of payment, i.e. an open credit, an agreement, which provides services to the client or sales of products to the customer with the delay in payment for them. |
Kireitsev G.G. [10] |
Accounts receivable are a part of working capital, which is a set ofrequirements for physical persons or legal entities to pay for goods, products and services. |
Foreign authors have an interesting approach to the interpretation of receivables. Thus, accounts receivable (receivables, volume of sale or debtors), together with the terms “debtor indebtedness, outstandings”, are translated into Ukrainian as “receivables, debtor accounts, accounts receivable”. In particular, according to Stone D. and Hitching K., accounts receivable are called "receivables" and debtors are those who owe money for goods and services they have already received, but have not paid for them [18].
Professors of Harvard university Baudy Z. and Merton R. define accounts receivable as "a book debt" [6] and note that it is an amount that customers have to pay to a corporation (to an enterprise).
Western economists often think of concepts "credit policy" and "accounts receivable management policy" as one category.
Horn D., in particular, considers accounts receivable as a quantitative result that originates from implementing credit policy of an enterprise [5], and Edwards B., in the book "Credit management" uses the concept "accounts receivable" as an accounting term solely [3].
Present-day domestic scientists, such as Dubrovskaya Ye. and others, define receivables as goods (works, services) that legal entities and individuals have not paid for and/or funds withdrawn from circulation of an enterprise, which have documentary confirmation that provides the right to receive a debt in the form of cash assets, their equivalents or other assets [8].
Some Ukrainian scientists regard accounts receivable as means withdrawn from enterprises, or that other persons have for a certain period of time. We consider such a definition to be rather incorrect, as it needs clarification. Thus, money withdrawn from a company does not always become accounts receivable.
Given the fact that International Financial Reporting Standards focus on monitoring contract obligations, Matytsyna N. suggests interpreting receivables as the extent of insolvency of a performer of entrepreneurial activities to pay bills of debt to an enterprise after the term of payment is due, according to an agreement [13].
Surnina K. notes that accounts receivable are a part of working capital, as well as requirements to obtain it in the form of cash, material and other resources from economic agents. Therefore, her most accurate definition is the following one: "accounts receivable are material resources that are not paid for by contractors, or cash that is withdrawn from circulation of monetary funds".
This definition gives an idea of the economic nature of accounts receivable and determines the place they take in accounting [19].
Thus, as we can see, all the authors have different points of view of the same issue. Having classified all the definitions of the concept "accounts receivable", given by different authors, we identified basic features, advantages and disadvantages.
In our opinion, most of the given definitions are incomplete, they do not reveal the essence of "accounts receivable" or consider only one of the sides.
On the basis of the research determining the nature of the concept of accounts receivable, we offer the following interpretation of the term, namely as an indicator of a financial status of an enterprise, which is the amount of debt to be paid to an enterprise, by a certain date, for the commercial and consumer loans issued to customers, as well as advancing money to suppliers the enterprise has the property interest to claim settling the debt from. In addition to that, such relationships have documentary confirmation.
Summing up different approaches to the economic notion of "accounts receivable", it should be noted that this concept requires further study and clarification, as this parameter determines the level of liquidity of assets and the financial solvency of companies. Accounts receivable are classified by the type and calculated respectively.
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