JAMB Principles of Accounts 2017 past questions

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

Ten questions from the 2017 JAMB Principles of Accounts paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 47 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2017 questions and answers

1. 1.

   Given:

   I. Settlement of debts

   II. Cessation of business

   III. Introduction of assets

   IV. Disposal of assets

   Which of these constitutes dissolution of partnership?

   1. A
      I, III and IV only
   2. B
      I, II and IV only
      Correct
   3. C
      I, II and III only
   4. D
      II, III and IV only
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Dissolution means the partnership has come to an end and the firm is being wound up. So look for the activities of winding up, not of building up.

   That is why I, II and IV is the answer. Candidates who pick I, II and III wrongly swap disposal for introduction of assets; those who choose I, III and IV or II, III and IV keep the intruder III and drop a genuine winding-up step.

2. 2.Which of these is the main source document for recording cash paid into bank?
   1. A
      Bank statement
   2. B
      Bank paying-in slip
      Correct
   3. C
      Cheque counterfoil
   4. D
      Credit note
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Every entry in the cash book must come from an original document, so ask yourself: what paper do you fill when you take money to the bank? You complete a bank paying-in slip (the deposit slip or teller). The cashier stamps it and gives you back the counterfoil, and it is that stamped counterfoil you use to post the amount to the debit side of the bank column of the cash book. That is why it is the main source document for cash paid into bank.

3. 3.

   Given:

   I. It records subscription in arrears

   II. Payments of liabilities is effected

   III. The account does not show if cash payment is revenue or capital expenditure

   IV. It performs the same function as cashbook

   The features of receipts and payment account includes

   1. A
      I, II and IV
   2. B
      II, III and IV
      Correct
   3. C
      I, II and III
   4. D
      I, III and IV
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   A Receipts and Payments Account is nothing more than a summarised cash book kept by a club, association or other non-trading organisation. It starts with the cash/bank balance brought forward, is debited with all cash received and credited with all cash paid, and ends with the balance carried down.

4. 4.

   Given:

   I. Cash refunds

   II. Debit note issued

   III. Dishonored cheque

   IV. Purchases

   The item on the credit side of purchases ledger control account includes

   1. A
      I, II and IV only
   2. B
      I, II and III only
   3. C
      II, III and IV only
   4. D
      I, III and IV only
      Correct
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: D

   The purchases ledger control account is simply a summary of all your suppliers' (creditors') accounts, so treat it like any liability account: whatever increases what you owe your suppliers is credited, whatever reduces it is debited.

5. 5.Which of these is a content of a master file?
   1. A
      Cash receipts awaiting posting to the ledger
   2. B
      Credit notes for goods returned during the week
   3. C
      Customers' names, addresses and account balances
      Correct
   4. D
      Sales invoices raised during the day
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   In a computerised accounting system, files are grouped by the kind of data they carry. A master file is the permanent (or semi-permanent) file of the organisation. It holds standing data that hardly changes - the account number, the customer's name, address and credit limit - together with cumulative data such as the running balance on each account, which is brought up to date at every processing run.

   That is why customers' names, addresses and account balances is the content of a master file.

6. 6.one of the options below is not the source of income for non- profit organization
   1. A
      Entrance fees from new members
   2. B
      Donations and legacies received
   3. C
      Honorarium paid to the club secretary
      Correct
   4. D
      Annual subscriptions from members
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   A non-profit-making organisation (a club, society or association) does not trade to make profit. It prepares a Receipts and Payments Account and an Income and Expenditure Account. Whatever brings money into the club is income and goes to the credit side; whatever takes money out is expenditure and goes to the debit side.

   Honorarium paid to the club secretary is not a source of income. An honorarium is the token allowance the club pays an officer — the secretary, treasurer or coach — for services rendered. It is money leaving the club, so it is charged as an expense in the Income and Expenditure Account, exactly like rent, wages, printing and stationery, repairs or affiliation fees.

7. 7.

   $\begin{array}{c|c} & \text{N} \\ \hline \text{Debtors opening} & 4000 \\ \hline \text{Debtors clsoing} & 1500 \\ \hline \text{Cash received from debtors} & 8500 \\ \hline \text{Bad debts written off} & 350 \\ \hline \text{Discount allowed} & 500 \\ \hline \text{Discount Received} & 1000\end{array}$

   What is the amount of sales of sales for the year?

   1. A
      ₦7,850
   2. B
      ₦6,350
   3. C
      ₦6,850
      Correct
   4. D
      ₦14,850
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   When you are given opening and closing debtors together with cash, bad debts and discounts, the missing figure of sales is found from the Total Debtors (Sales Ledger Control) Account.

   Debit side: Opening debtors ₦4,000 + Credit sales (the missing figure).
   Credit side: Cash received from debtors ₦8,500 + Bad debts written off ₦350 + Discount allowed ₦500 + Closing debtors ₦1,500 = ₦10,850.

   Since both sides must agree:
   ₦4,000 + Sales = ₦10,850
   Sales = ₦10,850 − ₦4,000 = ₦6,850.

8. 8.The account where the profit are distributed to the partner in their profit sharing ratio in partnership
   1. A
      Profit and loss appropriation account
      Correct
   2. B
      Realisation account
   3. C
      Partners' current account
   4. D
      Partners' capital account
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   In a partnership, the final accounts run in this order: Trading Account (gross profit) → Profit and Loss Account (net profit) → Profit and Loss Appropriation Account.

   The profit and loss appropriation account is where the net profit is "appropriated", that is, shared out. Interest on capital and partners' salaries are deducted, interest on drawings is added back, and whatever balance remains is then divided among the partners in their agreed profit sharing ratio. That is exactly what the question describes.

   So the account in which profit is distributed to partners in their profit sharing ratio is the profit and loss appropriation account.

9. 9.When starting with the cash book balance in preparing the bank reconciliation statement, the followings are added
   1. A
      bank charges and standing order payments
   2. B
      direct debits and uncleared lodgements
   3. C
      unpresented cheques and credit transfers received by the bank
      Correct
   4. D
      uncredited cheques and dishonoured cheques
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Remember the direction of travel. If you start with the cash book balance, you are working towards the bank statement balance. So anything that makes the bank statement figure bigger than the cash book figure must be added.

10. 10.Which fund is used to meet unforeseen or urgent expenditure
    1. A
       Capital Development Fund
    2. B
       Consolidated Revenue Fund
    3. C
       Federation Account
    4. D
       Contingency Fund
       Correct
    Show answerHide answer

    Answer: D

    The answer is the Contingency Fund. Section 83 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria creates the Contingencies Fund exactly for this purpose: where an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure arises and no other provision exists for it, the President may authorise an advance from this fund. A supplementary estimate is afterwards laid before the National Assembly to replace (reimburse) the amount advanced, so the fund is restored to its original level.

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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