Matching Principle: Definition, How it Works, and Examples

The matching principle is an accounting principle that states that revenues and any associated expenses are realized and recognised in the same accounting period. The accrual method of accounting serves as the foundation for the matching principle. A liability or asset that is unrelated to the reporting period could arise when revenues and expenses are reported in this manner.

The matching principle dates back to the early 1900s when accountants realized the importance of matching expenses with the revenue they generate. The principle was first formally codified in the 1930s when the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) were established in the United States. The matching principle remains a cornerstone of accounting and helps businesses make sound financial decisions based on accurate financial data.

What exactly is a Matching Principle?

The matching principle is a fundamental accounting principle that requires companies to match their expenses with the revenues they generate during a given period. The matching principle is based on the notion that income should be recognised as it is earned and expenses as they are incurred. Businesses must record expenses during the same time period that they generate revenue.

A business that sells a product in January but pays for it in December must record the expense in December rather than January. The Matching Principle guarantees that an organization’s financial statements accurately depict its profitability for a specific time period. The principle gives a more accurate picture of a company’s financial performance, which is crucial for investors, creditors, and other stakeholders by matching revenue and expenses.

How does the Matching Principle work?

The Matching Principle works by helping ensure that a company’s financial statements are accurate and reflect the true financial performance of the business. Expenses should be recognized in the same period as the revenues they helped to generate. 

This principle is important because it ensures that a company’s financial statements accurately reflect its financial performance during a specific period. A company can provide a more accurate picture of its profitability and financial health by matching expenses with revenues, 

The Matching Principle is applied through the use of accrual accounting. Accrual accounting recognizes revenues and expenses when they are earned or incurred, regardless of when the cash is actually received or paid. This allows for a more accurate reflection of a company’s financial performance over time.

What is the importance of the Matching Principle?

The Matching Principle is important because it guarantees that financial statements accurately depict a company’s profitability over a specific time period. It also aids in determining the true cost of producing goods or services as costs associated with producing those goods or services are compared to the income they produce.

What are the benefits of the Matching Principle?

The matching principle is advantageous because it helps companies accurately track their financial performance and make informed business decisions. Below are four advantages of the matching principle.

1. Higher insights on accounts

The Matching Principle ensures that financial statements accurately reflect the profitability of a company during a particular time period. It helps in determining the true cost of producing those goods or services when expenses related to producing goods or services are matched against the revenues that those goods or services generate. 

2. Helps make better decisions

Companies are able to improve the decisions they make regarding their finances if they adhere to the matching principle. They are able to conduct an in-depth examination of their expenditures and revenues on a period-by-period basis and use that information to make educated choices regarding investments, expansion, and other financial matters.

3. Compliance with GAAP

The matching principle is a generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP), which means that businesses are required to adhere to it in order to maintain compliance with accounting standards. Businesses have a better chance of avoiding fines and other legal issues that are associated with non-compliance by adhering to this principle.

4. Helps with the company budget

The matching principle enables businesses to produce budgets that are more precise by providing an exact comprehension of their expenditures and revenues for a particular time period. Businesses are able to allocate their resources and plan for future investments and expenditures because of this.

It is essential for businesses to understand and implement the matching principle in their financial reporting especially given their compliance with GAAP.

What are the challenges of the Matching Principle?

The matching principle is beneficial in many ways; even so, there are also some drawbacks that should be taken into consideration. Below are three main disadvantages of the matching principle.

1. The matching principle is time hectic

The matching principle specifies that businesses have to balance their expenses with the revenues they brought in during the same accounting period. The fact that it may be difficult to determine when revenue was earned or when an expense was incurred makes this a potentially challenging situation. It might be difficult to pinpoint exactly when a company’s revenue was generated if, for instance, the company offers services that must be paid for in advance.

2. Chances for manipulation

The matching principle is easily manipulative. Companies are able to manipulate their financial statements in order to better align their revenues and expenses in a way that is advantageous to the business when using the matching principle. 

3. It is difficult to apply

It is not always easy to put the matching principle into practice, particularly for companies that have a diverse range of revenue and expense streams. It is necessary to keep close tabs on both income and expenditures, and it is possible that estimates and assumptions will need to be made. Ensuring accuracy may take a significant amount of time and may call for the assistance of qualified accounting professionals because of its complexity.

Businesses can successfully implement the matching principle to gain a more accurate understanding of their financial performance and make informed decisions about their future investments and expenditures even with the above drawbacks.

What are the examples of the Matching Principle?

Depreciation, commissions and wages are three main examples of costs in the matching principle. Below is a detailed description of the three.

1. Depreciation

Depreciation is an accounting method for allocating a tangible asset’s cost over its useful life. Expenses should be recognised in the same period as related revenue is earned according to the matching principle in accounting. Depreciation is thus recorded on the income statement as an expense in the same period in which the asset generates revenue.

The goal of recording depreciation as an expense is to align the asset’s cost with the revenue it generates over its useful life. The income statement accurately reflects the asset’s true economic benefit to the company in each period by doing so.

Assume a company spends Rs.10,00,000 on a machine and expects it to last 5 years. The company can choose to depreciate the machine over its useful life by dividing the cost of the machine by 5, which works out to Rs.2,000,000 per year.

The company would record Rs.2,000,000 in depreciation expense each year. This expense would be offset by the machine’s revenue in the same period, ensuring that the company accurately reflects the asset’s true economic benefit to the company in each period.

Depreciation allows the company to spread the cost of the machine over its useful life, which aids cash flow management and ensures that the company’s financial statements accurately reflect the company’s financial performance.

Depreciation can be calculated in three main ways, including straight-line depreciation, declining balance depreciation, and sum-of-the-years digits depreciation.  Depreciation also has an effect on the balance sheet. The asset’s carrying value on the balance sheet decreases over time as it depreciates. This decrease in carrying value reflects the asset’s wear and tear as well as its decreasing value over time.

2. Commission

A commission is a type of expense incurred by a company when it compensates its salespeople or agents for the services they provide in order to generate revenue. The matching principle in accounting requires that the commission be recognised in the same period as the related revenue.

A commission earned by a salesperson is recorded as an expense in the same period as the related sale. This is due to the fact that the commission is directly related to the revenue generated by the sale.

Assume the product is sold for Rs.50,00,000, and the agreed-upon commission rate is 2% of the sale price.

The sales agent would earn Rs.1,00,000 (2% of Rs.50,00,000). The commission expense would then be recorded by the product owner’s company in the same period as the sale according to the matching principle in accounting. 

The commission expense would be recorded on the income statement as a deduction from the sale revenue. This ensures that the costs associated with generating revenue are accurately reflected in the company’s financial statements, and provides a clear picture of the company’s financial performance.

3. Employee Wages and Bonuses

The matching principle requires that employee wages and bonuses be recognised in the same period as the revenue they help to generate. Employee wages are typically recognised as an expense in the same period that they are earned. This means that if an employee works for a company in January, his or her wages will be recorded as an expense in the company’s financial statements for that month. The bonus is recorded as an expense in the January financial statements if an employee receives a bonus in January for work done the previous year.

A sales team in a retail store is an example of employee wages and bonuses being recognised at the same time as the revenue they help to generate. Assume the sales team consists of five employees who are paid a total of Rs 2,50,000 in January. The sales team is eligible for an amount of Rs.50,000 performance-based bonus based on their previous year’s sales performance. The bonus will be recorded as an expense in the financial statements for that month if it is paid in January. 

What are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)?

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are a set of standard accounting principles, guidelines, and procedures that businesses follow when preparing and presenting financial statements. The GAAP framework establishes a common language for businesses, investors, and regulators to use when communicating financial information and making sound decisions.

The GAAP framework includes accounting principles and concepts that govern financial statement preparation. These principles cover aspects of financial reporting, such as financial transaction and event recognition, measurement, and disclosure.

What is the goal of the matching principle?

The matching principle contributes to a more accurate picture of a company’s financial performance over time. The matching principle helps to avoid overstatement or understatement of a company’s profitability by recognising expenses in the same period as the revenue they help to generate.

The matching principle contributes to the preparation of financial statements in a consistent and transparent manner, facilitating comparison across companies and industries. This enables investors and other stakeholders to make well-informed decisions based on accurate financial data.

When should expenses and revenues be recorded according to the matching principle?

The matching principle states that expenses should be recorded in the same accounting period as the revenue they help generate. This means that expenses should be recorded when they are incurred, not when they are paid.

Can you apply the Matching Principle in the Stock Market?

The Matching Principle can be applied in the stock market by analyzing a company’s financial statements and examining how its expenses are matched to its revenues. A company’s revenue, for example, is rapidly increasing but its expenses are also rising. This could indicate that the company is heavily investing in growth and expansion.

Is the Matching Principle the same as Revenue Recognition?

No, the Matching Principle and Revenue Recognition are related concepts, but they are not the same thing. The Matching Principle is a broader accounting principle that requires expenses to be recognized in the same accounting period. This is done as the revenue they help to generate, in order to provide a more accurate picture of a company’s financial performance over time.

Revenue recognition is a specific accounting standard that specifies when and how revenue should be recognised on a company’s financial statements. Revenue Recognition is an important component of the Matching Principle because it governs when revenue should be recognised in the same accounting period as the related expenses.

What is the difference between Matching Principle and Revenue Recognition?

The Matching Principle and Revenue Recognition are two separate but related accounting concepts. The matching Principle states that expenses must be recorded in the same accounting period as the revenue they contribute to. This ensures that the financial statements provide an accurate and reliable picture of the financial performance of a company over time.

Revenue recognition is a specific accounting standard that specifies when and how revenue should be recognised on a company’s financial statements. It explains how a company should record revenue from the sale of goods or services.

Arjun Remesh

Head of Content

Arjun is a seasoned stock market content expert with over 7 years of experience in stock market, technical & fundamental analysis. Since 2020, he has been a key contributor to Strike platform. Arjun is an active stock market investor with his in-depth stock market analysis knowledge. Arjun is also an certified stock market researcher from Indiacharts, mentored by Rohit Srivastava.

Shivam Gaba

Reviewer of Content

Shivam is a stock market content expert with CFTe certification. He is been trading from last 8 years in indian stock market. He has a vast knowledge in technical analysis, financial market education, product management, risk assessment, derivatives trading & market Research. He won Zerodha 60-Day Challenge thrice in a row. He is being mentored by Rohit Srivastava, Indiacharts.