Accounting Online Program Certification Practice Test

Which expense was double recorded by the cashier in Daisy's case?

1. Bank charges

2. Transfer of funds

3. Insurance payments

4. Service charges

The correct answer is: Bank charges

The correct choice, bank charges, is identified as the expense that was double recorded by the cashier in Daisy's case. Bank charges typically represent fees that banks charge for maintaining an account or for specific transactions. If these charges were entered twice into the accounting records, it would lead to overstating the total expenses for the period, which can negatively affect the accuracy of financial reporting. Double recording can occur due to human error, such as inputting the same transaction on two different occasions without erasing or eliminating the previous entry. In cases like this, it's crucial for the accountant or financial manager to conduct regular reconciliations between bank statements and the company's ledgers to ensure that all expenses, including bank charges, are accurately reflected and to identify any discrepancies promptly. Considering the context, the other options involve transactions or expenses typically not subject to the same type of error as bank fees. Transfers of funds relate more to movement of cash rather than an expense being incurred, insurance payments are usually periodic and well-documented in advance, and service charges could be similar to bank charges but may not have been specifically cited as the double-recorded expense in this instance. Such distinctions highlight why bank charges would be recognized specifically as the instance of over-recording in this scenario.