JAMB Principles of Accounts 2013 past questions

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

Ten questions from the 2013 JAMB Principles of Accounts paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 46 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2013 questions and answers

1.
Sales - #232,000
Opening stock - ₦28,000
Purchases - #128,000
Carriage inwards - ₦4,000
Carriage outwards - ₦6,000
Closing stock - ₦10,000
Discount received - ₦18,000
Expenses - ₦20,000Calculate the expenses debited to the profit and loss account
1. A
  ₦24,000
2. B
  ₦8,000
3. C
  ₦26,000
  Correct
4. D
  ₦30,000
Show answerHide answer
Answer: C
Remember the division of labour between the two accounts. The trading account carries sales, opening stock, purchases, carriage inwards and closing stock — it ends at gross profit. The profit and loss account then carries the running expenses of the business on its debit side, and any other incomes (like discount received) on its credit side.
So the only expenses debited to the profit and loss account here are:
Carriage outwards = ₦6,000 (cost of delivering goods to customers — a selling expense)
Expenses = ₦20,000
Total = 6,000 + 20,000 = ₦26,000
The question asks strictly for what is debited, so the answer is ₦26,000.
2.
1. The amount of the imprest is the same from one organization to another
11.At the end of a fixed period, the petty cashier received a fixed sum of money.
111. At the end of a period, the petty cashier is reimbursed with the amount spent in that period.
1V. The system is a method by which a measure of control is kept on petty cash expenses.Which of the above is correct about the imprest system?
1. A
  II and III only
2. B
  I and II only
3. C
  I and IV only
4. D
  III and IV only
  Correct
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D
Under the imprest system, the petty cashier is given a fixed sum of money (the imprest or float) at the beginning of a period. He spends out of it, keeps vouchers for every payment, and at the end of the period he is refunded exactly what he spent so that the float is restored to its original figure.
So the two true statements are that the petty cashier is reimbursed at the end of a period with the amount spent and that the system keeps a measure of control over petty cash expenses. Control comes in because the cashier can never hold more than the fixed imprest, and every naira claimed must be backed by a voucher — so waste and fraud show up quickly.
3.
Given:Opening capital - #50,000
Closing capital - #64,000
Drawings - #16,000Determine the net profit
1. A
  ₦30,000
  Correct
2. B
  ₦48,000
3. C
  ₦2,000
4. D
  ₦14,000
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A
This is the statement of affairs (single entry) method of finding profit, used when the trader keeps no full double entry records.
The capital equation is:
Closing capital = Opening capital + Net profit + Additional capital − Drawings
No additional capital was introduced here, so we make net profit the subject:
Net profit = Closing capital + Drawings − Opening capital
= ₦64,000 + ₦16,000 − ₦50,000
= ₦80,000 − ₦50,000 = ₦30,000
Always add back drawings. The owner took ₦16,000 out of the business, so the capital you see at the end (₦64,000) has already been reduced by that amount. Adding it back restores the full profit the business actually earned.
4.What type of stock valuation would a vegetable seller adopt in valuing it's product?
1. A
  Last in, first out (LIFO) method
2. B
  First in, first out (FIFO) method
  Correct
3. C
  Base stock method
4. D
  Weighted average cost method
Show answerHide answer
Answer: B
Think about the goods in question. Vegetables are perishable — tomatoes, ugu and pepper that stay two extra days in the stall are a total loss. So the seller must sell the oldest consignment first and keep the freshest ones for later. The valuation method that follows exactly that flow is first in, first out (FIFO): the earliest purchases are treated as the first sales, so whatever is left in stock at the end is valued at the most recent purchase prices.
This is why your textbook always recommends FIFO for perishable and dated items — vegetables, bread, milk, drugs. It is also the method acceptable for financial reporting under SAS 4 and IAS 2.
So the vegetable seller adopts FIFO.
5.
Given:Drawings - #3,500
Net loss - #2,500
Capital 1/1/2007 - #35,000
Additional capital - #10,000The adjusted capital as at 31/1/2007 is
1. A
  ₦39,000
  Correct
2. B
  ₦29,000
3. C
  ₦44,000
4. D
  ₦46,000
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A
Use the capital adjustment formula:
Closing (adjusted) capital = Opening capital + Additional capital − Net loss − Drawings
Now put in the figures:
Opening capital (1/1/2007) = ₦35,000
Add additional capital = ₦10,000 → ₦45,000
Less net loss = ₦2,500 → ₦42,500
Less drawings = ₦3,500 → ₦39,000
Remember the reasoning: fresh capital brought in increases the owner's stake, while a net loss and drawings both reduce it. A loss eats into capital just as profit would add to it, and drawings are cash or goods the owner has taken out of the business for personal use.
6.The addition of prime cost, indirect cost and opening work-in-progress less the closing work-in-progress will result in cost of
1. A
  goods sold
2. B
  sales
3. C
  raw materials consumed
4. D
  production
  Correct
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D
This question is testing whether you can recite the manufacturing account from top to bottom. Learn the ladder and you will never miss this type again:
Step 1: Direct material consumed + direct labour + direct expenses = Prime cost
Step 2: Prime cost + indirect cost (factory overheads such as factory rent, factory power, depreciation of plant) = factory cost incurred for the period
Step 3: Add opening work-in-progress and deduct closing work-in-progress = Cost of production
Step 4: Cost of production + opening stock of finished goods − closing stock of finished goods = cost of goods sold
Step 5: Cost of goods sold + selling, distribution and administrative expenses = cost of sales
7.The purchase consideration that is lower than the net asset implies that, the buyer has gained the advantage of
1. A
  goodwill
2. B
  capital reserve
  Correct
3. C
  capital redemption reserve
4. D
  revenue reserve
Show answerHide answer
Answer: B
When one business buys over another, you must always compare two figures: the purchase consideration (what the buyer agrees to pay) and the net assets taken over (assets acquired less liabilities assumed, at agreed values).
Purchase consideration > net assets → the extra amount paid is goodwill.
Purchase consideration < net assets → the buyer has bought a bargain, and the excess of net assets over the price is a capital gain on acquisition (negative goodwill). It is credited to capital reserve.
8.Accounting information seeks to provide
1. A
  an assurance that the financial statements are entirely free from fraud
2. B
  a complete record of all cash receipts and payments made by the business
3. C
  a valuation of the business at its current market worth
4. D
  information that is useful to users of accounts in making economic decisions
  Correct
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D
Remember the definition you were taught: accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, recording and communicating economic information so that users can make informed judgements and decisions. The last part of that definition is the whole purpose, so the correct completion is information that is useful to users of accounts in making economic decisions.
Think of the users: the owner deciding whether to expand, a bank deciding whether to lend, FIRS assessing tax, investors deciding whether to buy shares, employees bargaining for wages, creditors deciding whether to supply on credit. Every one of them needs the figures to take a decision — that is why the information is produced at all.
9.
July 1 - Started business with #10,500
July 31- Paid Agromachinex #6,000 owing them. The double entry for July 31 would be
1. A
  Debit purchases account ₦6,000, credit Agromachinex account ₦6,000
2. B
  Debit cash account ₦6,000, credit Agromachinex account ₦6,000
3. C
  Debit Agromachinex account ₦6,000, credit capital account ₦6,000
4. D
  Debit Agromachinex account ₦6,000, credit cash account ₦6,000
  Correct
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D
Look carefully at the words "Paid Agromachinex ₦6,000 owing them". The word owing tells you Agromachinex is a creditor (a supplier the business owes). A creditor's account is a liability, so it carries a credit balance.
Now apply the rule: increase in liability, credit; decrease in liability, debit. Paying the ₦6,000 reduces what the business owes, so you debit Agromachinex account with ₦6,000. And since money went out of the business, the asset (cash) falls, so you credit cash account with ₦6,000. That is why debit Agromachinex account ₦6,000, credit cash account ₦6,000 is the correct double entry.
10.
July 1 - Started business with #10,500
July 31 - Paid Agromachinex #6,000 owing them.
The double entry for July 1 would be
1. A
  Debit capital account ₦10,500, credit Agromachinex account ₦10,500
2. B
  Debit cash account ₦10,500, credit drawings account ₦10,500
3. C
  Debit capital account ₦10,500, credit cash account ₦10,500
4. D
  Debit cash account ₦10,500, credit capital account ₦10,500
  Correct
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D
On July 1 the owner brought ₦10,500 into the business, so only two accounts are involved: cash and capital.
Apply the two golden rules one after the other. First, the money physically came into the business, so cash (an asset) has increased - and an increase in an asset is a debit. So we debit cash account with ₦10,500.
Second, remember the business entity concept: the business is treated as a person separate from its owner. Since the owner supplied that money, the business now owes him ₦10,500. That claim is called capital, and an increase in a liability or claim is a credit. So we credit capital account with ₦10,500. The full entry is therefore Dr Cash ₦10,500, Cr Capital ₦10,500.

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

Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.

Practise all 46 questions we hold from the 2013 paper, on a timed CBT screen

Every question has the answer and an explanation, in the Skolra app.

Download for Windows Download for Mac

About the app · Skolra for Windows · Skolra for Mac

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2013 past questions

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2013 questions and answers

Practise all 46 questions we hold from the 2013 paper, on a timed CBT screen

More Principles of Accounts past questions

Other Principles of Accounts years