JAMB Principles of Accounts 2019 past questions

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

Ten questions from the 2019 JAMB Principles of Accounts paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 71 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2019 questions and answers

1.
The importance of bank statement is all except
1. A
  It reveals bank charges and standing orders omitted from the cash book
2. B
  It helps to verify the accuracy of the cash book balance
3. C
  It is used in preparing the bank reconciliation statement
4. D
  It is used to determine the net profit of the business
  Correct
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Answer: D
The word except tells you that three of the statements are true uses of a bank statement, and you are looking for the odd one out.
A bank statement is simply the copy of your account as it appears in the bank's own ledger, sent to you periodically. Because of that, it is only useful for matters concerning the bank account.
2.
Goods were purchased for resale on credit costing ₦150,000 on 30th September 20X8 from Tosanwumi International. The entry to record this transaction is debit
1. A
  purchases account ₦150,000 and credit cash account ₦150,000
2. B
  Tosanwumi International ₦150,000 and credit purchases account ₦150,000
3. C
  Tosanwumi International ₦150,000 and credit sales account ₦150,000
4. D
  purchases account ₦150,000 and credit Tosanwumi International ₦150,000
  Correct
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Answer: D
Take the transaction apart before you touch the ledger. The goods were bought for resale, so they go into the Purchases account (not an asset or inventory account, which we use only for items bought for the business to keep and use). And they were bought on credit, so no money left the till - the supplier, Tosanwumi International, simply becomes a creditor (trade payable).
Now apply the rule. Purchases is a nominal (expense) account, and expenses increase on the debit side, so Purchases is debited with ₦150,000. Tosanwumi International is the giver of the goods, and a liability increasing is credited, so his personal account is credited with ₦150,000. That gives us:
Dr Purchases account ₦150,000
Cr Tosanwumi International ₦150,000
(Being goods purchased on credit on 30th September 20X8)
3.
Use the following to answer this question.
Industry ltd, issued 100,000 shares at ₦1 each out of its Authorized share capital of ₦200,000 at ₦1 each. At the of the first call, all shareholders paid in full, except for two shareholder who owes ₦20,000.
The Unissued capital of the company is
1. A
  ₦80,000
2. B
  ₦100,000
  Correct
3. C
  ₦200,000
4. D
  ₦120,000
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Answer: B
Unissued capital = Authorized capital − Issued capital.
The authorized (registered) share capital is 200,000 shares of ₦1 each = ₦200,000. Out of this, the company has issued only 100,000 shares of ₦1 each = ₦100,000.
So: ₦200,000 − ₦100,000 = ₦100,000. That is the portion of the authorized capital still sitting in the company's memorandum, not yet offered to the public.
4.
One of the objective of maintaining the account of a branch at the head office is to
1. A
  prepare consolidated accounts for the head office and its subsidiary companies
2. B
  ascertain the profit or loss made by the branch
  Correct
3. C
  eliminate the need for stock-taking at the branch at the end of the year
4. D
  prevent the branch from maintaining any book of account of its own
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Answer: B
When a business opens a branch, the head office usually keeps the branch books in its own ledger by opening a Branch Account, supported by Branch Stock, Branch Debtors and Goods Sent to Branch accounts. The main reason for doing this is to ascertain the profit or loss made by the branch. The head office wants to know whether each branch is paying its way, so goods sent, expenses paid and sales made by the branch are all collected in one account and the balance shows the branch profit or loss. Closely linked to this is control - the accounts also help the head office check branch stock, cash and debtors for shortages - but the profit or loss of the branch is the objective being tested here.
5.
A proprietor withdraws cash from the business for private use, he
1. A
  debits the drawings account and credits the cash account
  Correct
2. B
  debits the drawings account and credits the purchases account
3. C
  debits the cash account and credits the drawings account
4. D
  debits the profit and loss account and credits the cash account
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Answer: A
Money the owner takes out of the business for himself is called drawings. It is not an expense of the business, and it is not a loan — it is simply the proprietor reducing his own claim on the firm.
Apply the double entry step by step. Cash is an asset, and the asset is going down, so cash must be credited. The corresponding debit goes to the Drawings account. That is why debiting drawings and crediting cash is the correct treatment. At the end of the year the balance on the Drawings account is transferred to the debit side of the Capital account, so the proprietor's capital falls by the amount withdrawn.
6.
The two recognised accounting bases are
1. A
  going concern and consistency bases
2. B
  single entry and double entry bases
3. C
  cash and accrual bases
  Correct
4. D
  historical cost and prudence bases
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Answer: C
A basis of accounting simply answers one question: at what point do we recognise income and expenses in the books? Only two answers are recognised, so cash and accrual bases is correct.
7.
A rent of ₦50,000 was paid by samson to his landlady by cheque. The double entry in Samson's book is
1. A
  Debit landlady's account ₦50,000; credit bank account ₦50,000
2. B
  Debit rent account ₦50,000; credit cash account ₦50,000
3. C
  Debit bank account ₦50,000; credit rent account ₦50,000
4. D
  Debit rent account ₦50,000; credit bank account ₦50,000
  Correct
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Answer: D
Remember, we are recording this in Samson's own books — he is the tenant who paid out the money, not the landlady who received it.
Two things happened to Samson:
1. He incurred an expense — rent. Expenses and losses are always debited, so rent account is debited with ₦50,000.
2. He paid by cheque, so money left his account at the bank. Bank is an asset, and a decrease in an asset is credited with ₦50,000.
So the correct double entry is debit rent account ₦50,000 and credit bank account ₦50,000.
8.
An officer that is charged with the responsibility of carrying out investigations on the book of accounts to show the true and fair view is
1. A
  an auditor
  Correct
2. B
  a bookkeeper
3. C
  an accountant
4. D
  a treasurer
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Answer: A
The key phrase in the question is "true and fair view". That is the exact wording of the audit report required under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, where the auditor reports to the members whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of its profit or loss for the year.
So the officer who examines, investigates and vouches the books of accounts, the vouchers and the supporting documents, and then expresses an independent opinion, is an auditor. Note the word "investigations" in the question — the auditor does not write up the books, he checks what somebody else has written.
9.
Discount received is charge to
1. A
  the current liabilities section of the balance sheet
2. B
  the credit side of the profit and loss account
  Correct
3. C
  the debit side of the trading account
4. D
  the debit side of the profit and loss account
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Answer: B
Discount received is the cash discount your business enjoys when it pays a supplier (creditor) within the agreed credit period. It is a gain to the business, so it goes to the credit side of the Profit and Loss Account — in vertical format it is added to gross profit as other income.
See it from the double entry. When you settle the creditor:
Dr Creditor (full invoice amount)
Cr Cash/Bank (the smaller amount actually paid)
Cr Discount Received (the difference)
The discount received account therefore closes with a credit balance, and that balance is transferred to the credit of Profit and Loss.
10.
A statement in a double entry system in which are recorded all the transactions of one specific class, which takes place during the period is called
1. A
  a trial balance
2. B
  a ledger
3. C
  an account
  Correct
4. D
  a journal
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Answer: C
Read the wording of the question carefully — it is the standard textbook definition of an account. Three clues give it away:
1. "a statement" — one single record, not a whole book;
2. "in a double entry system" — it has a debit side and a credit side (the T-account);
3. "all the transactions of one specific class" — all purchases go to the Purchases Account, all rent to the Rent Account, all cash to the Cash Account.
So an account is where transactions of the same kind are gathered together for the period.

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JAMB Principles of Accounts 2019 past questions

JAMB Principles of Accounts 2019 questions and answers

Practise all 71 questions we hold from the 2019 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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