JAMB Principles of Accounts 2011 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2011 JAMB Principles of Accounts paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 45 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2011 questions and answers

1. 1.In a period of declining price, which of the following methods would result in higher profit?
   1. A
      Last-in, first-out (LIFO)
      Correct
   2. B
      Weighted average cost
   3. C
      Simple average cost
   4. D
      First-in, first-out (FIFO)
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   Answer: A

   Remember the golden rule: Profit = Sales − Cost of goods sold. So whichever stock method charges the smallest cost to cost of sales will report the biggest profit.

   When prices are falling, the goods you bought most recently are the cheapest. Last-in, first-out (LIFO) issues those latest, cheapest units first, so cost of sales is at its lowest and profit is at its highest. That is why it is the correct answer here.

2. 2.The historical development of accounting reveals that it?
   1. A
      was invented in its present form by Luca Pacioli in 1494
   2. B
      began only with the rise of the joint-stock company
   3. C
      evolved gradually in response to the needs of trade and commerce
      Correct
   4. D
      originated from the need to compute income tax liabilities
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   Answer: C

   Accounting is a product of its environment. The answer that says it evolved gradually in response to the needs of trade and commerce is the correct one, because at every stage of history accounting changed only when business needed it to change.

3. 3.In a bank reconciliation statement, interest charged for overdrawn balances should be added to the?
   1. A
      Overdraft balance as per the bank statement
   2. B
      Debit side of the cash book
   3. C
      Overdraft balance as per the cash book
      Correct
   4. D
      Total of unpresented cheques in the statement
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   Answer: C

   When a bank charges interest on an overdraft, the bank has already made the entry in its own books — it debits the customer's account, so the overdraft shown on the bank statement is already bigger by that amount. The trader, however, hears about the charge only when the statement arrives, so the cash book has not yet recorded it.

   That tells you which figure must be corrected: the cash book one. In the cash book, a bank charge is money going out, so it is entered on the credit side — and when the cash book balance is already a credit balance (an overdraft), a further credit makes the overdraft bigger. So the interest is added to the overdraft balance as per the cash book.

4. 4.The major feature of a journal is that it has?
   1. A
      Two sides which are balanced off at the period end
   2. B
      A balance brought down at the start of every period
   3. C
      A narration written under every entry recorded
      Correct
   4. D
      Columns for recording cash and bank transactions
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   Answer: C

   The journal (or journal proper) is a book of original entry — it is where a transaction is first written down, showing which account to debit and which to credit, before the posting is made to the ledger.

   Its ruling is: date, particulars, folio, debit (₦) and credit (₦). But the one thing that marks the journal out from every other book you keep is the narration — the short explanation written just beneath each entry telling you why the entry was made, for example "Being purchase of a motor van on credit from Ade Motors". No other book of original entry carries a narration, so that is the major feature.

5. 5.The subscription paid in advance is treated in the balance sheet of a club as?
   1. A
      A current liability
      Correct
   2. B
      A current asset
   3. C
      A long-term liability
   4. D
      An addition to the accumulated fund
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   Answer: A

   When a member pays his subscription in advance, the club has collected the money but has not yet given the member the membership period he paid for. So the club still owes that service. Money received but not yet earned is income received in advance, and in the balance sheet of a club it sits under current liabilities — that is the correct treatment.

6. 6.Which of the following is a signatory to federal government account?
   1. A
      The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
   2. B
      The Accountant-General of the Federation
      Correct
   3. C
      The Auditor-General for the Federation
   4. D
      The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service
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   Answer: B

   The Accountant-General of the Federation is the correct answer. He is the chief accounting officer for all receipts and payments of the Federal Government. He operates the Consolidated Revenue Fund, keeps the books of the Federation, and it is his signature (or that of an officer he formally authorises) that appears on the mandates and cheques drawn on federal government bank accounts. In short, no money legally leaves a federal account without his authority.

7. 7.The cost that are directly traceable to the the goods being produced is?
   1. A
      Indirect cost
   2. B
      Fixed cost
   3. C
      Period cost
   4. D
      Direct cost
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Costs can be classified in more than one way, and this question is testing classification by traceability. Any cost that can be identified with, and charged straight to, a particular product or cost unit is a direct cost. Examples are direct materials (the timber used in making a table), direct labour (the wages of the carpenter who made it) and direct expenses (royalty paid per unit produced). When you add these three together you get the prime cost.

   So the cost directly traceable to the goods being produced is the direct cost.

8. 8.The item on the credit side of the trading account is the?
   1. A
      Purchases
   2. B
      Closing stock
      Correct
   3. C
      Opening stock
   4. D
      Carriage inwards
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   Answer: B

   The trading account is drawn up to calculate gross profit, and each item takes a fixed side.

   Debit side (cost of goods available for sale): opening stock, purchases less returns outwards, carriage inwards, direct wages, and gross profit c/d as the balancing figure.
   Credit side (sales revenue and goods still unsold): sales less returns inwards, and closing stock.

   Closing stock is credited because the goods left in the store at year end were never sold, so their cost must be taken out of the cost of goods sold. Crediting it in the trading account (and showing it as a current asset in the balance sheet) removes that cost from the period's charge.

9. 9.Which of the following can be used on admission of a new partnership?
   1. A
      Receipts and payments account
   2. B
      Appropriation account
   3. C
      Realisation account
   4. D
      Revaluation account
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   When a new partner is admitted, the old firm does not close down — it simply continues with an extra partner. But before the newcomer joins, the assets and liabilities must be brought to their true present values, so that any gain or loss that built up before he came belongs to the old partners alone. The account opened for that exercise is the revaluation account.

   So remember this pair for your examination: admission, retirement or change in ratio → revaluation account; dissolution → realisation account.

10. 10.The transactions relating to liquidation in partnership account is drawn by using?
    1. A
       Revaluation account
    2. B
       Partners' current account
    3. C
       Realisation account
       Correct
    4. D
       Profit and loss appropriation account
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    Answer: C

    When a partnership is liquidated (dissolved and wound up), the assets are sold, the liabilities are paid off and the firm closes its books. The account opened to carry all of these winding-up entries is the realisation account.

    So remember the pair: revaluation for a continuing firm, realisation for a dying firm.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

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Practise all 45 questions we hold from the 2011 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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