One of a series of regularly updated Study Texts providing coverage of the examinations of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), this covers the entire syllabus and includes numerous questions from past examinations with full suggested solutions. This study is designed to provide a self-contained course of study for students attempting paper 5 of the Intermediate Stage of the examination of the Association of Accounting Technicians. As an introductory text on basic accounting, however, it is likely to be useful to anyone beginning this subject. No previous knowledge of accounting is assumed. Separate sections of this text deal in detail with an introduction to business accounting, which introduces important accounting items such as assets and liabilities, profit, capital and the main accounting statements, accounting statements in practice, which describes how to account for particular items such as fixed assets, depreciation, provisions, accruals and prepayments, and also describes the double-entry theory of ledger accounting, other aspects of financial statements, which explains the workings of control accounts, suspense accounts, bank reconciliations and incomplete records. This section also covers the important topic of accounting concepts; different types of accounts, covering the preparation of financial statements for non-trading organisations, partnerships, manufacturing businesses and limited companies, the interpretation of financial statements, which provides an introduction to the objectives of financial statements, ratio analysis and the operating cycle.