STADIO HIGHER EDUCATION
School of Commerce
⋄
Accounting for Managers
Assignment — Semester 2, 2026
⋄
Module Code: ACN100 / ACND152
Module Name: Accounting for Managers
Assessment Code: SF1
Due Date: 21 September 2026
Semester: Semester 2, 2026
Total Marks: 75
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Accounting for Managers
at STADIO Higher Education.
,STADIO | ACN100/ACND152 Accounting for Managers – Assignment
Question 1: Bookkeeping, Accounting and Fundamental Concepts
Sip & Swipe Café illustrates a problem that faces almost every small, growing business: sales
are rising, yet the owner has no reliable way of knowing whether the business is profitable,
because the underlying recording and reporting functions have never been separated out or
formalised.
1.1.1 Bookkeeping versus Accounting
Bookkeeping is the systematic, day-to-day recording of a business’s financial transactions
in the original books of entry, in chronological order, so that a complete and accurate set of
source data exists for later use (AccountingTools, 2024). It is a mechanical and procedural task:
transactions such as cash sales, card payments and supplier purchases are captured as they
occur, but the figures are not yet interpreted or explained.
Accounting is the broader process that begins where bookkeeping ends. It takes the raw data
bookkeeping produces and classifies, summarises, analyses and communicates it in the form of
financial statements and reports, so that owners, managers and other stakeholders can make
informed decisions (Acharya, 2024). Where bookkeeping asks "what happened", accounting
asks "what does it mean, and what should be done about it". For Nicole, bookkeeping would
give her a list of transactions; accounting would tell her whether the R50 000 she received in
May actually represents a profit once her costs, including depreciation on the delivery motor-
bike and the cost of stock used, are taken into account.
1.1.2 One Task Each: Bookkeeper and Accountant
A bookkeeper working for Sip & Swipe Café would record each day’s cash, card, EFT and mobile-
payment takings into a cash receipts book or equivalent record, using the slips currently kept
in Nicole’s drawer as source documents. This is a recording task: it captures the transaction
but does not evaluate it.
An accountant, by contrast, would use that recorded data to prepare a monthly income state-
ment for the café, deducting the cost of coffee beans, milk and baked goods sold, wages, rent
and depreciation on the motorbike from total sales, in order to determine whether the R50 000
taken in May represents a genuine profit or merely cash flow. This is an interpretive task: it
converts the bookkeeper’s raw figures into a decision-useful conclusion about business perfor-
Page 1 of 9
, STADIO | ACN100/ACND152 Accounting for Managers – Assignment
mance.
1.2.1 Three Users of Accounting Information
Three groups that would use Sip & Swipe Café’s accounting information are the owner (Nicole),
the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and a bank or other lender.
1.2.2 Why Each Requires the Information
Nicole, as owner and manager, requires accounting information to establish whether the busi-
ness is genuinely profitable, to control daily cash, card and mobile-payment takings, and to
decide whether expansion decisions such as the R80 000 motorbike purchase are financially
sound. Without reliable figures she cannot distinguish increasing turnover from increasing
profit.
SARS requires accounting information to verify that Sip & Swipe Café is correctly calculating
and paying the taxes for which it is liable, including income tax on profits and, once the VAT
registration threshold is reached, output VAT on sales. Inaccurate or incomplete notebook
records would make this verification difficult and could expose the business to penalties.
A bank or other prospective lender requires accounting information to assess whether the café
can service a loan, for example finance for further delivery equipment. Lenders rely on finan-
cial statements to judge liquidity, profitability and existing debt before extending credit, and
a business that cannot produce reliable figures is a poor credit risk regardless of how busy it
appears to be (Acharya, 2024).
1.3 Why the Delivery Motorbike Qualifies as an Asset
The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB) in March 2018, defines an asset as a present economic resource con-
trolled by the entity as a result of a past event, where an economic resource is a right that has
the potential to produce economic benefits (IASB, 2018; DataTracks, 2018). Three elements of
this definition must be satisfied: control by the entity, a past event giving rise to that control,
and the potential to generate future economic benefit.
The R80 000 delivery motorbike purchased by Nicole satisfies all three elements. Control ex-
ists because the café, having paid for the motorbike, owns it and can decide how, when and
Page 2 of 9
School of Commerce
⋄
Accounting for Managers
Assignment — Semester 2, 2026
⋄
Module Code: ACN100 / ACND152
Module Name: Accounting for Managers
Assessment Code: SF1
Due Date: 21 September 2026
Semester: Semester 2, 2026
Total Marks: 75
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Accounting for Managers
at STADIO Higher Education.
,STADIO | ACN100/ACND152 Accounting for Managers – Assignment
Question 1: Bookkeeping, Accounting and Fundamental Concepts
Sip & Swipe Café illustrates a problem that faces almost every small, growing business: sales
are rising, yet the owner has no reliable way of knowing whether the business is profitable,
because the underlying recording and reporting functions have never been separated out or
formalised.
1.1.1 Bookkeeping versus Accounting
Bookkeeping is the systematic, day-to-day recording of a business’s financial transactions
in the original books of entry, in chronological order, so that a complete and accurate set of
source data exists for later use (AccountingTools, 2024). It is a mechanical and procedural task:
transactions such as cash sales, card payments and supplier purchases are captured as they
occur, but the figures are not yet interpreted or explained.
Accounting is the broader process that begins where bookkeeping ends. It takes the raw data
bookkeeping produces and classifies, summarises, analyses and communicates it in the form of
financial statements and reports, so that owners, managers and other stakeholders can make
informed decisions (Acharya, 2024). Where bookkeeping asks "what happened", accounting
asks "what does it mean, and what should be done about it". For Nicole, bookkeeping would
give her a list of transactions; accounting would tell her whether the R50 000 she received in
May actually represents a profit once her costs, including depreciation on the delivery motor-
bike and the cost of stock used, are taken into account.
1.1.2 One Task Each: Bookkeeper and Accountant
A bookkeeper working for Sip & Swipe Café would record each day’s cash, card, EFT and mobile-
payment takings into a cash receipts book or equivalent record, using the slips currently kept
in Nicole’s drawer as source documents. This is a recording task: it captures the transaction
but does not evaluate it.
An accountant, by contrast, would use that recorded data to prepare a monthly income state-
ment for the café, deducting the cost of coffee beans, milk and baked goods sold, wages, rent
and depreciation on the motorbike from total sales, in order to determine whether the R50 000
taken in May represents a genuine profit or merely cash flow. This is an interpretive task: it
converts the bookkeeper’s raw figures into a decision-useful conclusion about business perfor-
Page 1 of 9
, STADIO | ACN100/ACND152 Accounting for Managers – Assignment
mance.
1.2.1 Three Users of Accounting Information
Three groups that would use Sip & Swipe Café’s accounting information are the owner (Nicole),
the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and a bank or other lender.
1.2.2 Why Each Requires the Information
Nicole, as owner and manager, requires accounting information to establish whether the busi-
ness is genuinely profitable, to control daily cash, card and mobile-payment takings, and to
decide whether expansion decisions such as the R80 000 motorbike purchase are financially
sound. Without reliable figures she cannot distinguish increasing turnover from increasing
profit.
SARS requires accounting information to verify that Sip & Swipe Café is correctly calculating
and paying the taxes for which it is liable, including income tax on profits and, once the VAT
registration threshold is reached, output VAT on sales. Inaccurate or incomplete notebook
records would make this verification difficult and could expose the business to penalties.
A bank or other prospective lender requires accounting information to assess whether the café
can service a loan, for example finance for further delivery equipment. Lenders rely on finan-
cial statements to judge liquidity, profitability and existing debt before extending credit, and
a business that cannot produce reliable figures is a poor credit risk regardless of how busy it
appears to be (Acharya, 2024).
1.3 Why the Delivery Motorbike Qualifies as an Asset
The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB) in March 2018, defines an asset as a present economic resource con-
trolled by the entity as a result of a past event, where an economic resource is a right that has
the potential to produce economic benefits (IASB, 2018; DataTracks, 2018). Three elements of
this definition must be satisfied: control by the entity, a past event giving rise to that control,
and the potential to generate future economic benefit.
The R80 000 delivery motorbike purchased by Nicole satisfies all three elements. Control ex-
ists because the café, having paid for the motorbike, owns it and can decide how, when and
Page 2 of 9
