IGCSE Accounting: Clubs and societies (Cambridge 0452)

Syllabus edition note. This resource follows the Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452 syllabus (and Cambridge O Level Accounting 7707, which has the same subject content for the same series) for exams in 2027, 2028 and 2029 (version 1), first examined in the March 2027 series in India and the June 2027 series elsewhere. If you sit 0452 in November 2026, you sit the 2026 syllabus (version 2), which differs: Paper 1 has 35 multiple-choice marks in 1 hour 15 minutes, not 40 marks in 1 hour 30 minutes; Topic 7 is “Accounting principles and policies”, without 7.2 Ethical considerations or 7.3 Technology and sustainability; 4.4 is “Irrecoverable debts and provision for doubtful debts”; income statements are named instead of statements of profit or loss; three-column running balance accounts are not required; Clubs and societies is 5.4 and Manufacturing accounts 5.5; and 6.3 is “Inter-firm comparison”. For this topic, the 2026 syllabus covers only trading and service businesses in 5.1 and limits drawings adjustments to goods taken by the owner for own use; for limited companies it excludes cumulative and non-cumulative preference shares, rights issues, share premium and capital redemption reserve but requires the difference between redeemable and non-redeemable preference shares (the 2027-2029 syllabus lists none of these); and for incomplete records it does not ask why businesses keep them or what their advantages are. If you sit in November 2026, work from the 2026 syllabus on the Cambridge International website.

This guide covers syllabus section 5.5 Clubs and societies in Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452, for exams in 2027, 2028 and 2029 (version 1). It sits inside Topic 5, Preparation of financial statements, and the syllabus does not split it into tiers. Amounts are in dollars. For the wider topic, see the Topic 5 study guide, which has a short club example that this page does not repeat. Then use the revision notes and the practice questions. The course hub is Cambridge IGCSE Accounting, the printable checklist tracks progress, and the free diagnostics show where to start.

What 5.5 asks you to do

Syllabus point	Where it is covered below
Receipts and payments accounts and income and expenditure accounts	The two accounts
Prepare receipts and payments accounts	Preparing a receipts and payments account
Accounts for revenue-generating activities, e.g. refreshments, subscriptions	Revenue-generating activities; Subscriptions
Prepare income and expenditure accounts and statements of financial position	Income and expenditure account; Statement of financial position
Adjustments as detailed in 5.1	Adjustments from 5.1
Define and calculate the accumulated fund	Accumulated fund

One club runs through the whole guide: Kelmarsh Sailing Club, year ended 31 December 2028.

The two accounts

A club or society exists for its members, not to make a profit for an owner. It has no owner’s capital and no drawings. Two accounts replace the usual statements.

A receipts and payments account summarises the cash book. The opening cash and bank balance is on the receipts side, the closing balance is on the payments side, and the two sides total the same. Every receipt and payment appears when the money moves, whether it buys a boat or pays for the lights.

An income and expenditure account does the job of a statement of profit or loss. It includes only revenue items belonging to the year, adjusted for amounts owing and prepaid. Its result is a surplus (income greater than expenditure) or a deficit.

Kelmarsh item	Receipts and payments account	Income and expenditure account
New rescue boat, 1,500	Payment of 1,500	Not shown; only the depreciation charge appears
Boat shed rent paid, 2,400, with 400 owing at the year end	Payment of 2,400	Expenditure of 2,500 after adjusting for opening and closing amounts owing
Subscriptions received, 9,150	Receipt of 9,150	Income of 9,330 after adjusting for arrears, advance payments and amounts written off
Opening cash and bank, 2,400	First receipt	Never shown

Preparing a receipts and payments account

1. Write the opening cash and bank balance on the receipts side.
2. List every receipt from the cash book on the receipts side, and every payment on the payments side.
3. Find the closing balance as a balancing figure on the payments side, then total both sides.

Do not adjust anything at this stage: amounts owing, prepaid and depreciation do not belong in this account.

Kelmarsh Sailing Club
Receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 December 2028
Receipts                          $   Payments
Balance b/d                   2,400   Café supplies                  3,900
Subscriptions                 9,150   Café wages                     1,100
Café takings                  7,800   Boat shed rent                 2,400
Regatta entry fees            1,350   Insurance                        780
                                      Rescue boat                    1,500
                                      Regatta costs                    700
                                      Repairs                          640
                                      Coach's fees                   4,200
                                      Clubhouse utilities            1,150
                                      Balance c/d                    4,330
                             20,700                                 20,700

The balance carried down is 20,700 less payments of 16,370, which is 4,330.

Revenue-generating activities

Many clubs run activities to raise money. Each gets its own short account, and only the net result goes to the income and expenditure account. A café or refreshments activity is prepared like a trading account, then its direct expenses are deducted. The cash book shows what was paid, so adjust the payments for trade payables:

purchases = cash paid for supplies + closing trade payables - opening trade payables

Kelmarsh paid 3,900 for café supplies. Trade payables were 420 at 1 January and 510 at 31 December, so purchases were 3,900 + 510 - 420 = 3,990. Café inventory was 350 at the start and 480 at the end.

Café account for the year ended 31 December 2028 ($)
Sales                                                7,800
Less cost of sales
  Opening inventory                         350
  Purchases                               3,990
                                          4,340
  Less closing inventory                    480
                                                     3,860
Gross profit                                         3,940
Less café wages                                      1,100
Profit on café                                       2,840

The regatta is a one-off event. Entry fees of 1,350 less costs of 700 give a surplus on the regatta of 650. If costs had been larger, the activity would show a loss, which is deducted in the income and expenditure account.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are a major source of income for many clubs, and the cash received is rarely the same as the income earned. The subscriptions account finds the income by balancing.

• Subscriptions in arrears: owed by members at the date; an other receivable (debit balance).
• Subscriptions in advance: received before the period they cover; an other payable (credit balance).
• Irrecoverable subscriptions: arrears that will never be paid; written off, and shown as expenditure.

Kelmarsh had arrears of 300 and advance payments of 200 at 1 January. At 31 December arrears were 450 and advance payments 260. A member who owed 90 left the club and the amount was written off.

Subscriptions account
2028                              $   2028
1 Jan  Balance b/d (arrears)    300   1 Jan  Balance b/d (advance)    200
31 Dec Income and expenditure 9,330   31 Dec Bank                   9,150
31 Dec Balance c/d (advance)    260   31 Dec Irrecoverable subs        90
                                      31 Dec Balance c/d (arrears)    450
                                9,890                                9,890

Subscription income is therefore 9,330. The write-off of 90 is not deducted from income; it is a separate expense.

The club also keeps an allowance for irrecoverable debts on its arrears, using the method from 4.4. It was 30 at the start. At the year end it is 10% of 450, which is 45. The increase of 15 is expenditure, and the allowance of 45 is deducted from arrears in the statement of financial position.

Adjustments from 5.1

Section 5.5 applies the adjustments listed in 5.1. Drawings are an owner’s item, so a club has none.

Adjustment	Income and expenditure account	Statement of financial position
Depreciation	Expenditure	Deducted from the asset
Accrued expense	Added to the expense	Other payable
Prepaid expense	Deducted from the expense	Other receivable
Accrued income	Added to the income	Other receivable
Income received in advance	Deducted from the income	Other payable
Irrecoverable debt and allowance	Expenditure	Allowance deducted from receivables

Three depreciation methods can appear. Straight line charges the same amount each year: (cost less any residual value) divided by the expected life. Reducing balance charges a percentage of the net book value each year. Revaluation compares valuations: depreciation = opening valuation + additions - closing valuation. A club that values its sound equipment at 2,400, buys 600 more and values it at 2,700 has depreciation of 2,400 + 600 - 2,700 = 300.

Kelmarsh’s boats had a net book value of 12,000 at 1 January. With the new boat, the base is 13,500. Depreciation at 10% reducing balance is 1,350, leaving 12,150.

The adjusted figures are:

• Boat shed rent: 2,400 paid + 400 owing at the end - 300 owing at the start = 2,500.
• Insurance: 780 paid + 180 prepaid at the start - 195 prepaid at the end = 765.

Income and expenditure account

Kelmarsh Sailing Club
Income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 December 2028 ($)
Income
  Subscriptions                                      9,330
  Profit on café                                     2,840
  Surplus on regatta                                   650
                                                    12,820
Less expenditure
  Coach's fees                            4,200
  Boat shed rent                          2,500
  Clubhouse utilities                     1,150
  Insurance                                 765
  Repairs                                   640
  Depreciation of boats                   1,350
  Irrecoverable subscriptions                90
  Increase in allowance for
    irrecoverable debts                      15
                                                    10,710
Surplus for the year                                 2,110

Accumulated fund

The accumulated fund is the club’s capital: total assets less total liabilities. The opening figure comes from the opening balances, because the club has no capital account.

Accumulated fund at 1 January 2028
Assets: boats 12,000 + inventory 350 + arrears (300 - 30 allowance) 270
        + insurance prepaid 180 + cash and bank 2,400            = 15,200
Liabilities: advance subscriptions 200 + trade payables 420
        + rent owing 300                                         =    920
Accumulated fund                                                 = 14,280

Closing accumulated fund = opening accumulated fund + surplus (or - deficit): 14,280 + 2,110 = 16,390.

Statement of financial position

Kelmarsh Sailing Club
Statement of financial position at 31 December 2028 ($)
Non-current assets
  Boats (net book value)                            12,150
Current assets
  Inventory                                 480
  Other receivables: subscriptions in
    arrears (450 - 45)                      405
  Other receivables: insurance prepaid      195
  Cash and bank                           4,330
                                                     5,410
Total assets                                        17,560

Accumulated fund and liabilities
  Accumulated fund at 1 January 2028                14,280
  Add surplus for the year                           2,110
                                                    16,390
Current liabilities
  Trade payables                            510
  Other payables: subscriptions in advance  260
  Other payables: rent owing                400
                                                     1,170
Total accumulated fund and liabilities              17,560

Both totals are 17,560. A deficit would be subtracted from the opening fund instead.

Common errors

• Putting the opening bank balance into the income and expenditure account.
• Treating the purchase of a boat or equipment as expenditure, instead of an asset with depreciation.
• Using the cash paid for supplies as purchases without adjusting for trade payables.
• Mixing up arrears (an asset) and advance payments (a liability) in the subscriptions account.
• Deducting an irrecoverable subscription from income as well as showing it as expenditure.
• Forgetting that a club has an accumulated fund, not capital, and a surplus or deficit, not a profit or loss.
• Adding the balance of a revenue-generating activity to the wrong side: a profit is income, a loss is expenditure.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a receipts and payments account and an income and expenditure account? A receipts and payments account summarises the cash book, recording every receipt and payment when cash moves, with no adjustments. An income and expenditure account does the job of a statement of profit or loss, including only revenue items for the year adjusted for amounts owing and prepaid.

What is the accumulated fund of a club? The accumulated fund is the club’s capital: total assets less total liabilities. The closing accumulated fund is the opening fund plus the surplus, or minus the deficit, for the year.

What is the difference between subscriptions in arrears and subscriptions in advance? Subscriptions in arrears are owed by members at the year end and are an other receivable. Subscriptions in advance are received before the period they cover and are an other payable.

How are a club’s revenue-generating activities shown in Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452? Each activity, such as a café or a one-off event, gets its own short account, and only its net result goes to the income and expenditure account. A profit is shown as income and a loss as expenditure.

Is buying equipment for a club an expense? No. Equipment such as a boat is a non-current asset shown in the statement of financial position, and only its depreciation is charged in the income and expenditure account.

Official syllabus

Source: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452 syllabus for 2027, 2028 and 2029 (version 1), Cambridge University Press & Assessment, section 5.5. Amounts and names in this guide are invented.