What the project asks and how to choose
The syllabus gives 20 marks for project work. You choose any one of three projects. Pick the one you can finish with real or realistic data from a small shop, your family business, or a made-up trader.
Good projects are judged on correct entries, neat work, a clear file and how well you can explain what you did. Use your own figures; do not copy another student's file.
Project A: from source documents and vouchers to records
Source documents are the first papers of a deal: invoice or bill (credit buying or selling), cash memo (cash sale), receipt (money received), pay-in slip, cheque counterfoil, debit and credit notes.
Steps:
- Collect or create 15 to 25 documents for one month.
- Check each: date, party, amount, signature.
- Make a voucher (a numbered proof) for each, such as a receipt voucher or payment voucher.
- Record in the journal or cash book from the vouchers, in date order.
- Post to the ledger and file the vouchers in number order.
Rule: no document, no entry.
Project B: bank reconciliation with 20 to 25 transactions
Your cash book (bank column) and the bank's passbook record the same deals, but at different times, so balances differ.
Common reasons:
- Cheque issued but not yet presented to the bank.
- Cheque deposited but not yet collected (credited).
- Bank charges or interest the bank put in, which you have not yet written.
- Direct deposits or standing instructions you did not know about.
Steps: write 20 to 25 deals in both books, tick the matches, list unmatched items, update your cash book for bank-side items (charges, interest), then prepare the statement.
Passbook balance = updated cash book balance + cheques issued not presented − cheques deposited not credited (when the cash book shows a bank balance).
Full method in Bank Reconciliation Statement.
Project C: full accounts of a sole trader with simple GST
A sole trader owns the business alone. Make a month or a year for a small trader (cloth shop, grocer).
- Journal entries for every deal (with opening capital).
- Ledger accounts (cash, bank, purchases, sales, expenses, parties).
- Trial balance: total debits must equal total credits.
- Trading account (gross profit), profit and loss account (net profit) and balance sheet.
- Charts: a bar chart of sales by month, a pie chart of expenses.
Simple GST: trader charges GST on sales (output) and pays GST on purchases (input). GST payable = output GST − input GST. Example: sales ₹20,000 at 18% gives output ₹3,600. Purchases ₹10,000 at 18% gives input ₹1,800. Pay ₹1,800.
Presenting the file
Order of pages: cover page (name, class, school, topic), index, introduction (what you chose and why), the work (documents, books, statements), summary (what you learned, one or two findings) and sources.
Write in your own words, keep entries neat, number the pages, and be ready to answer questions such as "why did your balances differ?".
Try it
1. For one week, keep every bill and receipt from your home (fruit seller, recharge, school stationery). Write each in a table with date, amount and who paid.
2. Make up a bank passbook with 10 entries and a cash book with the same 10 but write two cheques as "not yet cleared". Find the gap yourself.
3. Pretend you sold 5 items at ₹100 with 18% GST. How much GST did you collect?
Key formulas and definitions
- Passbook balance = updated cash book balance + cheques issued not presented − cheques deposited not credited
- GST amount = value × rate ÷ 100
- GST payable = output GST (sales) − input GST (purchases)
- Trial balance: total debits = total credits
- Gross profit = net sales − cost of goods sold
Worked examples
1. Riya sells a bag for cash, ₹500. Which source document and which book?
Source document: cash memo. Make a receipt voucher. Record in the cash book (receipts side) and in the sales account.
2. Cash book bank balance ₹24,000. Cheques issued not presented ₹6,000. Cheques deposited not yet credited ₹4,000. Bank charges ₹200 not in cash book. Interest ₹500 credited by bank not in cash book. Find the passbook balance.
Update cash book: 24,000 − 200 + 500 = 24,300. Passbook = 24,300 + 6,000 − 4,000 = 26,300.
3. A trader bought goods for ₹50,000 plus 18% GST and sold goods for ₹80,000 plus 18% GST. Find the GST payable.
Input GST = 50,000 × 18% = 9,000. Output GST = 80,000 × 18% = 14,400. Payable = 14,400 − 9,000 = 5,400.
Common mistakes
- Entering a deal in the books without a source document or voucher.
- Adding both timing items (not presented, not credited) the same way. Not-presented cheques are added; not-credited deposits are subtracted (when starting from a bank balance).
- Forgetting to update the cash book for bank charges and interest before reconciling.
- Calculating GST on the amount that already includes GST, or mixing up input and output.