WAEC Financial Accounting past questions and answers

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

WAEC Financial Accounting: 284 objective past questions from 6 papers between 2019 and 2024, each with the answer and an explanation. WAEC now lists the subject as Accounting. Here are ten.

How the WAEC Financial Accounting paper is set. On WAEC's 2026 timetable for private candidates, Paper 1 (objective) takes 1 hour and Paper 2 (theory and practice) 2 hours 30 minutes. If the question paper on the day gives another time, follow the question paper. The questions here are from Paper 1.

1. 1.

   Where partners maintain a fluctuating capital account, partners' share of profit is credited to

   1. A
      Capital account
      Correct
   2. B
      Current account
   3. C
      Drawings account
   4. D
      Appropriation account
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   Answer: A

   Under the fluctuating capital method, partners keep only one account each — the capital account — and every item affecting a partner's investment in the business (profit share, interest on capital, drawings, interest on drawings, salary) is entered directly into it. Because there is no separate current account, the balance on each partner's capital account changes (fluctuates) every year.

   So a partner's share of profit is credited straight to the capital account.

2. 2.

   A debit entry in a fixed asset account represents

   1. A
      Disposal of a fixed asset
   2. B
      Depreciation charged on the asset
   3. C
      Sale proceeds received for the asset
   4. D
      Purchase or acquisition of a fixed asset
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Fixed assets are assets held by the business, so they carry debit balances in the ledger. A debit entry in a fixed asset account records the purchase or acquisition of the asset, increasing its value. Credit entries represent disposals, write-offs or reductions in value.

3. 3.

   In the final account of a limited liability company, debenture interest paid is recorded in the

   1. A
      statement of changes in equity
   2. B
      income statement
      Correct
   3. C
      appropriation account
   4. D
      directors' report
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   Answer: B

   Debenture interest is a finance charge and is recorded as an expense in the income statement (profit and loss account) before arriving at net profit. It is not an appropriation of profit.

4. 4.

   Expense incurred but not yet paid is

   1. A
      Operating lease
   2. B
      Lease financing
   3. C
      Finance lease
      Correct
   4. D
      Sale-leaseback
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   Answer: C

   A finance lease (capital lease) transfers substantially all risks and rewards of asset ownership to the lessee, making the lessee the accounting owner. The lessee records the asset and corresponding liability. An operating lease is a short-term rental where the lessor retains ownership. Sale-leaseback is a specific financing arrangement. Finance leases must be capitalized per accounting standards because the lessee controls the asset's benefits.
5. 5.

   The concept which underlines double entry bookkeeping is

   1. A
      Accruals concept
   2. B
      Prudence concept
   3. C
      Dual aspect concept
      Correct
   4. D
      Going concern concept
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   Answer: C

   The dual aspect concept (duality principle) states that every business transaction has two equal and opposite aspects — a debit and a credit. This is the foundation of double-entry bookkeeping, which records both the giving and receiving aspects of every transaction.

6. 6.

   The final stage of accounting process is

   1. A
      Preparation of financial statements
      Correct
   2. B
      Posting entries to the ledger
   3. C
      Recording transactions in the journal
   4. D
      Preparation of the trial balance
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   Answer: A

   The accounting process (accounting cycle) follows a set order: transactions are first recorded in the journal, then posted to the ledger, then summarised in a trial balance, and finally used to prepare the financial statements (the trading, profit and loss account and the balance sheet).

7. 7.Company as a legal entity means that it
   1. A
      cannot be sued in its own name
   2. B
      is owned entirely by its founding shareholders
   3. C
      has a separate existence from its owners
      Correct
   4. D
      must be registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act every year
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   Answer: C

   A company as a legal (or corporate/artificial) entity means that once it is incorporated, the law treats it as a person in its own right, separate and distinct from the shareholders who own it and the directors who run it.

   Because of this separate existence, the company can own property, enter contracts, sue and be sued, and incur debts in its own name. Its life continues even when shareholders change, sell their shares, or die — this is called perpetual succession. This is why the option describing it as having a separate existence from its owners is correct.

8. 8.

   Sales account was undercast byGH¢ 1,000. When this is corrected, both the gross profit and the net profit would

   1. A
      remain unchanged
   2. B
      decrease
   3. C
      increase
      Correct
   4. D
      gross profit increase but net profit decrease
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   Answer: C

   Understanding the error: If sales were undercast (understated) by GH¢1,000, it means the sales figure recorded in the trading account was GH¢1,000 less than it should have been.

   Sales is a positive figure that feeds directly into gross profit (Gross Profit = Sales − Cost of Sales). Since sales was too low, gross profit was also too low by the same GH¢1,000.

   Gross profit is then carried down into the profit and loss account, where it forms the starting point for calculating net profit. Since gross profit was understated by GH¢1,000, net profit was also understated by GH¢1,000, because no other figure in the profit and loss account changes as a result of correcting the sales figure.

9. 9.

   Recognition of profit when goods are sold and the buyer takes ownership of them is in line with

   1. A
      Accrual concept
   2. B
      Matching concept
   3. C
      Realization concept
      Correct
   4. D
      Prudence concept
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   Answer: C

   The realization concept states that revenue (and profit) should be recognised only when it has been earned — that is, when goods are sold and ownership passes to the buyer, not when cash is received. This distinguishes realised profit from unrealised gains.

10. 10.

    The partner who partakes in the management of the firm and assumes personal responsibility for the firm's debts is a

    1. A
       General partner
       Correct
    2. B
       Limited partner
    3. C
       Sleeping partner
    4. D
       Nominal partner
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    Answer: A

    A general partner (also called an active partner) takes part in running the day-to-day affairs of the business and, because the law treats partnership debts as the partners' own debts, bears unlimited personal liability for the firm's obligations. This matches the description exactly: active in management, personally responsible for debts.

    A limited partner contributes capital but is barred from taking part in management, and their liability is capped at the amount they invested — the opposite of what the question describes.

    A sleeping (dormant) partner shares in the profits and may still be liable for debts, but deliberately stays out of the day-to-day management of the 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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