第174回日商簿記1級 NS予想大会【ネットスクール】

Summary

The livestream presents Net School’s predictions and short lessons for the 174th Nissho Bookkeeping Level 1 exam. The instructors stress that predictions are guides, not guarantees. Candidates should use them to plan their revision while continuing to study the full range of topics.

Exam predictions

Commercial bookkeeping and accounting

• The instructors expect continued emphasis on theoretical understanding alongside calculations, including questions that connect the two.
• Consolidated financial statements remain an important area to prepare. The presenters highlight comprehensive income and related consolidated-statement calculations as possible topics.
• Revenue recognition may be tested through a long, detailed problem. Areas mentioned include:
  • Preparing financial statements, such as the income statement and balance sheet
  • Sales with rights of return
  • Customer points and loyalty programs
• Candidates should also secure more familiar points—such as securities, depreciation, and receivables—rather than letting a difficult revenue-recognition problem consume too much time.

Industrial bookkeeping and cost accounting

• Do not assume standard costing will be absent just because it appeared recently.
• The presenters identify comprehensive process costing as a notable possibility, alongside job-order costing and other costing methods.
• Potential decision-making topics include capital investment, business decisions, and budget planning. Joint products and divisional profit or variance analysis are also mentioned as possible areas.
• Fujimoto suggests that recent questions may place particular weight on correctly interpreting the scenario and conditions, not just performing complex calculations. His speculation about why questions may use conversational formats is an interpretation, not confirmed exam-setter intent.

Short lessons

1. Sales with a right of return

When a customer can return a product, account for expected returns at the time of sale:

1. Estimate the amount expected to be returned.
2. Deduct that amount from sales revenue and recognize a refund liability for the expected refund.
3. Recognize a return asset for the cost of the goods expected to come back, reducing cost of sales accordingly.

The example assumes 1,000 units are sold for ¥200 each, at a cost of ¥150 per unit. The expected return is 20 units:

• Recognized sales: ¥196,000; refund liability: ¥4,000
• Cost of sales: ¥147,000; return asset: ¥3,000

When actual returns occur, compare them with the estimate:

• Returns match the estimate: Settle the refund liability and transfer the return asset back to inventory.
• More units are returned than expected: Recognize the additional refund by reducing sales further; adjust the return asset and cost of sales for the additional goods.
• Fewer units are returned than expected: Refund only the actual returns, recognize the excess liability as sales, and adjust the return asset and cost of sales.

A change in recognized sales should be accompanied by a corresponding adjustment to cost of sales.

2. Customer points and loyalty programs

A sale that includes points is treated as a transaction with multiple components: the product and the points the customer can use later.

1. At the sale date, allocate the transaction price between the product and the points in proportion to their standalone selling prices.
2. Recognize the product portion as sales revenue.
3. Recognize the points portion as a contract liability, because the company still owes the customer a future discount or benefit.
4. As points are redeemed, transfer the corresponding share of the contract liability to revenue, based on actual redemptions relative to estimated total redemptions.
5. If the estimate of total points expected to be redeemed changes, recalculate the cumulative revenue that should have been recognized to date, then record the adjustment in the current period.

In the example, a ¥75,000 transaction is allocated between a product with a standalone price of ¥75,000 and points valued at ¥15,000. The ¥90,000 total standalone value is used as the allocation basis, producing ¥62,500 of product revenue and a ¥12,500 contract liability for points.

The presenters emphasize reading long point-program descriptions carefully to identify the relevant terms and estimates.

3. After-tax cash flow for investment decisions

Fujimoto explains why depreciation must be accounted for when calculating after-tax cash flow. Two equivalent methods are presented:

• After-tax profit + depreciation
• (Cash inflows − cash outflows) × (1 − tax rate) + depreciation × tax rate

The depreciation-related tax reduction is the tax shield.

Example:

• Sales: ¥1,000
• Cash expenses: ¥600
• Depreciation: ¥100
• Tax rate: 30%

Taxable profit is ¥300, so tax is ¥90 and after-tax profit is ¥210. Add back the non-cash depreciation expense of ¥100: after-tax cash flow is ¥310.

Simply applying the 30% tax rate to the ¥400 difference between sales and cash expenses would produce ¥280, which is incorrect because it ignores the tax shield from depreciation.

4. Present value of a perpetual cash flow

As additional material, Fujimoto explains the present value of an endless annual cash flow:

Present value = annual cash flow ÷ discount rate

For an annual cash flow of ¥1.2 million and a 10% discount rate, the present value is ¥12 million. He describes this as an uncommon exam topic and offers it as supplementary knowledge rather than a central prediction.

Study guidance

The presenters recommend organizing the remaining preparation period into three stages:

• September — Build and repair the foundation

  • Review basic concepts and identify areas that are unclear or weak.
  • Give difficult connected topics, such as consolidated accounting or cost accounting, focused study time rather than trying to fix them in brief spare moments.
  • Treat early difficulty with past questions as diagnostic: use it to identify what needs review.

• October — Practice and improve scoring ability

  • Work through past questions and practice exams.
  • Prioritize reaching correct answers before trying to become faster; speed is not useful if the underlying method is not understood.
  • Review the reasoning behind calculations rather than memorizing formulas alone.

• November — Consolidate and avoid unnecessary new material

  • Focus on reviewing material already studied, correcting mistakes, and stabilizing performance.
  • Avoid taking on many unfamiliar topics or problems shortly before the exam, which may undermine confidence.

Other advice:

• Treat predicted questions as a study aid, not as a substitute for broad preparation.
• In the exam, manage time sensibly: secure accessible points first, and do not let a lengthy, difficult question take over.
• Do not judge readiness solely by early practice-test scores. Practice is intended to uncover gaps so they can be addressed before the actual exam.
• Keep to a sustainable study pace rather than being unsettled by other people’s progress or online comments.

Speakers and sources featured

• Fukuyama (Net School): Commercial bookkeeping and accounting predictions; lessons on sales with rights of return and customer-point accounting; study advice.
• Fujimoto (Net School): Industrial bookkeeping and cost-accounting predictions; lessons on after-tax investment cash flow and perpetual cash flows; study advice.
• Livestream chat participants: Audience members ask questions and make comments, which the presenters respond to. They are not identified as additional presenters.