OHADA Financial Accounting Course Plan 2013-2024

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COURSE PLAN FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR
: 2013-2024
NOM DE L’ENSEIGNANT : TCHIENGANG PEGUY
TELEPHONE [phone] Email [e-mail]
DIPLOME Msc /DIPET 2 in ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE OF ORGANISATION
DEPARTEMENT: MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS AND FINANCE
SPECIALITE (OU OPTION): BANKING AND FINANCE
DISCIPLINE (UV) FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
VOLUME SEMESTRIEL/ANNUEL : 30
QUOTA HEBDOMADAIRE : 2HRS
TOTAL DE CHAPITRES A COUVRIR :
SEMESTRE 1
OBJECTIFS DU COURS The main issues here are Recording of daily transactions in
commercial enterprise
COURSE OUTLINE
CHAPTER1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO OHADA ACCOUNTING
CHAPTER 2: THE OHADA ACCOUNTING MECHANISM
CHAPTER 3: THE OHADA ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS AND ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER 4: THE VALUE ADDED TAX
CHAPTER 5: PURCHASES AND SALES TRANSACTIONS IN COMMERCIAL
COMPANIES
CHAPTER 6: TRADING TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING CONTAINERS

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CHAPTER1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION to OHADA ACCOUNTING
To manage a class, family, a project, business or any organization; leaders/managers always need
monetary and nonmonetary information that will help them to analyze and solve problems by
reducing uncertainty. Information includes facts, ideas, and concepts that help us understand the
world. It must be collected, kept, reported and used. But, how can we? Can Accounting, often
called language of business help us? What is it?
1.1- Definition
The word account in everyday language is often used as a substitute for an explanation or a report
of certain actions or events. If you are an employee, for example, you may have to explain to your
employer just how you have been spending your time, or if you are a manager you may have to
report to the owner on how the business is doing. In order to explain or to report, you will, of
course, have to remember what you were doing or what happened. As it is not always easy to
remember, you may need to keep some written record. Therefore, accounting is a service provided
for those who need information about an entity’s financial performance, its assets and its liabilities.
It is describes as the process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information
to permit informed judgments and decisions by the users of the information.
It is divided broadly into financial accounting and management accounting.
Financial accounting is the classification and recording of the monetary transactions of an entity
in accordance with established concepts, principles, accounting standards and legal requirements
and their presentation, by means of income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements,
during and at the end of an accounting period. Following the concepts, principles, accounting
standards and legal requirements for the recording and the presentation of financial statements, an
enterprise can adopt the British system (IAS) or the OHADA system. Therefore, OHADA financial
accounting is the classification and recording of the monetary transactions of an entity in
accordance with OHADA concepts, principles, accounting standards and legal requirements and
their presentation, by means of income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements, during
and at the end of an accounting period.
1.2- Presentation of OHADA
With its large population and abundant natural resources, together with its pressing need for
modern infrastructures, Africa is recognized as a continent with vast potential for investment and
development. It has however also long been recognized that continued investment and

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development cannot be achieved without, on the one hand, a secure legal and commercial
environment that will protect private property and contractual rights and, on the other hand, a
strong and independent court system that can ensure the proper application of the law and the
efficient settlement of disputes. Until recently, and despite these needs, much of Africa suffered
from outdated or incomplete legal systems, which varied from one country to another. This gave
rise to uncertainty that, in turn, was a disincentive to investment in Africa. Against this
background, a number of African States have grown increasingly aware of the advantages that
arise from the creation of a modern, harmonized and easily accessible system of business law.
1.2.1- Meaning of OHADA
OHADA is an international organization that was created by a treaty signed in Port-Louis
(Mauritius) on 17 October 1993 by 14 African States. The acronym ‘OHADA’ stands for
‘Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires’ (Organization for the
Harmonization of Business Law in Africa, occasionally referred to in English as ‘OHABLA’).
The idea behind the creation of OHADA sprang from a political will to strengthen the African
legal system by enacting a secure legal framework for the conduct of business in Africa, which is
viewed as essential to the development of the continent.
Like European regulations that apply directly throughout the European Union, the legislation
issued by OHADA is directly applicable in all OHADA’s Member States; but in the field of
business law, the OHADA legislation is much more comprehensive view of African integration
through an economic union and a large common market For example, an investor wishing to
establish companies in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Senegal will now be subject
to the same rules in each of these countries. Moreover, the 17 Member States have established a
single court with supreme jurisdiction over any disputes relating to OHADA law, in whichever of
the 17 countries such disputes might arise.
1.2.2- Objectives of OHADA
According to articles 1 and 2 of the OHADA treaty, the objectives of OHADA are:
 To harmonize accounting referential and accounting practices of the enterprises in member
States;
 To keep books, prepare and present accounts in the reliable manner which also eases the
understanding and comparability;

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 To improve on the quality of financial data for the users (faithful image of the patrimony,
of the financial situation and the result);
 To adapt principles and accounting methods of the enterprises to international standards;
 To increase efficiency in the control of accounts;
 To put at the disposal of enterprises a modern management tool.
1.2.3- Members States of OHADA
According to Article 53 of the OHADA treaty, adherence to the organization is opened to any
member of African Union (AU) or a non-AU state invited to join the organization by mutual
agreement of member states. At present or now, OHADA has 17 members namely: Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros,
Congo, Ivory Coast or Cote d`Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali,
Niger, Senegal Democratic Republic of Congo and Togo. Other States such as, Angola, Ghana
and Liberia have also expressed a certain interest in OHADA.
1.2.4- Institutions of OHADA
OHADA has four institutions necessary for its smooth functioning; there are:
 The council of Ministers: it is the supreme decision - making body of OHADA and it is
composed of the Ministers of Justice and Ministers of Finance of all the Member States.
 The permanent Secretariat: it is a permanent body of OHADA with headquarters at Yaoundé,
Cameroon; the permanent Secretariat is headed by a permanent Secretary appointed by the
council of Ministers and assisted by three Directors in charge of legal affairs and relations with
institutions, finance and accounts and general administration and the OHADA official
newspaper.
 The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration: it is a permanent body of OHADA with
headquarters at Abidjan, Cote d`Ivoire. the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA)
comprises seven judges elected by the council of Ministers for a term of seven years renewable
amongst judges, practicing lawyers and law professors of the Member States. CCJA shall not
consist of more than one National of the same State and it has judicial functions (advisory
jurisdiction and contentious jurisdiction ) and arbitral functions.
 The regional training centre for legal officers (ERSUMA): it is a permanent body of OHADA
attached to the permanent Secretariat with headquarters at Porto Novo, Benin.
1.2.5- Enterprises subjected to OHADA accounting system

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 Private enterprises: sole proprietorships, commercial companies, EIG
 State corporations, parastatal corporations, semi- parastatal companies
 Cooperatives
 All enterprises, which produce goods (for markets or not, as main activities or
casually) provided that such activities are carried out regularly.
1.2.6- The sources of OHADA accounting law
1.2.6.1.Definition
The accounting law is the system used to record, summarize, analyze, and categorize the
financial transactions of an individual or a business. Just like any law, it has a hierarchy which
constitutes the sources of accounting regulations.
1.2.6.2.The hierarchy of Accounting Law
Based the order of importance, the sources of accounting law are many and can be given
according to the following hierarchy:
 International sources: These are the main sources of accounting law. They are constituted
of international treaties and international doctrine. A treaty is an agreement in written form
between nation-states (or international agencies, such as the United Nations, that have been
given treaty-making capacity by the states that created them) that is intended to establish a
relationship governed by International Law. In the Africa French zone, the accounting law
is precised in the Uniform Act bearing Organisation and Harmonisation of Accounting of
the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHABLA in French
OHADA).
Doctrines help is to provide general rules for the conduct of foreign policy through decisions on
international relations. These rules allow the political leadership of a nation to deal with a
situation and to explain the actions of a nation to other nations. Concerning accounting law, the
most important international doctrine that serve as source of accounting law are the International
Standard Committee (IASC) or the Commission of International Accounting Norms (CIAN).
 National sources: At the national level, accounting law has as sources:
 The financial law
 The general tax code
 The decrees
 Etc
1.3. OHADA accounting principles