24.—(1) Where the amount repayable on any debt owed by a small company is greater than the value of the consideration received in the transaction giving rise to the debt, the amount of the difference may be treated as an asset.
(2) Where any such amount is so treated—
(a)it shall be written off by reasonable amounts each year and must be completely written off before repayment of the debt; and
(b)if the current amount is not shown as a separate item in the company’s balance sheet it must be disclosed in a note to the accounts.
25.—(1) Subject to the following sub-paragraph, assets which fall to be included—
(a)amongst the fixed assets of a small company under the item “tangible assets”; or
(b)amongst the current assets of a small company under the item “raw materials and consumables”;
may be included at a fixed quantity and value.
(2) Sub-paragraph (1) applies to assets of a kind which are constantly being replaced, where—
(a)their overall value is not material to assessing the company’s state of affairs; and
(b)their quantity, value and composition are not subject to material variation.
26.—(1) The purchase price of an asset shall be determined by adding to the actual price paid any expenses incidental to its acquisition.
(2) The production costs of an asset shall be determined by adding to the purchase price of the raw materials and consumables used the amount of the costs incurred by the company which are directly attributable to the production of that asset.
(3) In addition, there may be included in the production cost of an asset—
(a)a reasonable proportion of the costs incurred by the company which are only indirectly attributable to the production of that asset, but only to the extent that they relate to the period of production; and
(b)interest on capital borrowed to finance the production of that asset, to the extent that it accrues in respect of the period of production;
provided, however, in a case within head (b), that the inclusion of the interest in determining the cost of that asset and the amount of the interest so included is disclosed in a note to the accounts.
(4) In the case of current assets distribution costs may not be included in production costs.
27.—(1) Subject to the qualification mentioned below, the purchase price or production cost of—
(a)any assets which fall to be included under any item shown in a small company’s balance sheet under the general item “stocks”; and
(b)any assets which are fungible assets (including investments);
may be determined by the application of any of the methods mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) in relation to any such assets of the same class. The method chosen must be one which appears to the directors to be appropriate in the circumstances of the company.
(2) Those methods are—
(a)the method known as “first in, first out” (FIFO);
(b)the method known as “last in, first out” (LIFO);
(c)a weighted average price; and
(d)any other method similar to any of the methods mentioned above.
(3) For the purposes of this paragraph, assets of any description shall be regarded as fungible if assets of that description are substantially indistinguishable one from another.
28. Where there is no need of the purchase price or production cost of any asset of a small company or of any price, expenses or costs relevant for determining its purchase price or production cost in accordance with paragraph 26, or any such record cannot be obtained without unreasonable expense or delay, its purchase price or production cost shall be taken for the purposes of paragraphs 17 to 23 to be the value ascribed to it in the earliest available record of its value made on or after its acquisition or production by the company.