How to Pass JAMB Accounting in 2027

Accounting is the one JAMB subject where the entire topic list hangs on a single idea. If you truly understand double entry, then the ledger, the trial balance, the final accounts and most adjustments follow. If you do not, every chapter feels like a new set of rules to memorise, and the memorising fails under exam pressure.

This guide is for the 2027 cycle. It starts with that single idea and then shows how the rest builds on it.

The format

Accounting is a chosen subject, typical for Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration and Economics. It carries 40 questions in the UTME CBT. JAMB may title the subject Principles of Accounts in its syllabus, so check the exact name, the time limit and the format in the brochure at jamb.gov.ng. See JAMB subject combination for Accounting to check which subjects pair with it for your course.

Because the exam is objective, you will not draw full ledger accounts for marks. You will read a short transaction or figures and pick the correct amount or entry. That makes mental clarity more valuable than neat layout, though layout practice on rough paper still helps you reach the right answer.

The one idea: the accounting equation

Assets = Liabilities + Capital. Every transaction changes at least two items and keeps both sides equal. An original example:

A business has assets of ₦800,000 and liabilities of ₦300,000. Its capital is: 800,000 − 300,000 = ₦500,000.

Double entry puts that into practice. Each transaction has a debit and a credit of the same amount. A rule you can carry anywhere:

When you read a transaction, ask: which accounts are affected, what type is each, and does each rise or fall? For example, buying equipment for cash increases one asset (equipment, debit) and decreases another (cash, credit). Paying rent increases an expense (debit) and decreases cash (credit).

Journal, ledger and trial balance

The journal is the first record, the ledger is the grouped record, and the trial balance checks that total debits equal total credits. Understand that a trial balance can agree and still be wrong, because some errors do not upset the totals:

• Error of omission: a transaction is left out completely.
• Error of commission: an entry is put in the wrong account of the right type.
• Error of principle: an entry is put in the wrong class, such as a purchase of a machine recorded as an expense.
• Compensating errors: two mistakes cancel out.

A question can ask which error does not affect the trial balance. Learn these four by name, and know that an error of original entry (a wrong figure used on both sides) and an error of reversal (debit and credit swapped) also leave the totals equal.

Depreciation: the sum to master

Depreciation spreads the cost of an asset over its useful life. Straight-line method:

Annual depreciation = (Cost − Residual value) ÷ Useful life.

A machine costs ₦500,000, has an expected residual value of ₦50,000 and a life of 5 years. Annual depreciation is: (500,000 − 50,000) ÷ 5 = ₦90,000.

Also learn the reducing balance method, where a fixed percentage is applied each year to the carrying value. After one year at 20 per cent on ₦500,000 the charge is ₦100,000 and the new carrying value is ₦400,000.

Know how depreciation appears in the final accounts: as an expense in the income statement, and as a deduction from the asset in the statement of financial position.

Final accounts and adjustments

Final accounts convert a trial balance into an income statement and a statement of financial position. Learn the layout once by writing it out three times from memory, then focus on adjustments:

Rehearse these four until you can state the effect of any adjustment in one breath. The topic appears again in sole trader, partnership, manufacturing and club accounts, so it pays to learn it well once.

Bank reconciliation

A bank reconciliation explains why the cash book and the bank statement differ. Original example:

The cash book shows a balance of ₦40,000. Cheques worth ₦6,000 have been issued but not yet presented. There are no other differences. The balance on the bank statement is: cheques not yet presented have reduced the cash book but not the bank, so the bank balance is higher: 40,000 + 6,000 = ₦46,000.

Learn the usual reconciling items: unpresented cheques, uncredited deposits, bank charges, direct debits and dishonoured cheques. For each, ask whether it affects the cash book, the statement, or both.

Partnership, manufacturing and public sector

These are specialised extensions of the same ideas. For partnerships, learn the appropriation account: interest on capital, interest on drawings, salaries and the profit-sharing ratio. For manufacturing, learn the sequence of prime cost, factory overhead and cost of production. For public sector accounting, learn the vocabulary, such as appropriation, warrant and votes, and the main differences from commercial accounts. Revise these last, after the basics are firm.

Common mistakes

1. Debiting when you should credit, usually because you reverse the account type. Always name the account type first.
2. Forgetting to include the opening balance in a ledger sum.
3. Applying depreciation to land, which is not usually depreciated.
4. Treating drawings as an expense. It reduces capital.
5. Skipping the check that debits equal credits.

A study routine

Do your sums on paper, every day, even for 30 minutes. Reading Accounting does not teach it. Use this cycle each session:

1. Read one topic for 15 minutes.
2. Redo an example without looking.
3. Work 10 questions, marking your errors.
4. Write one rule you broke.

For a topic-by-topic priority list, see JAMB Accounting topics to focus on. To build numeric speed, read how to solve maths faster.

Practise on screen

ExamPadi has free JAMB Accounting practice with explanations and a timed CBT mode. Start with the 2025 JAMB Accounting past questions and note which topic produces your first errors. No guide can promise a score, but a clear grip on double entry changes how every later chapter feels. Tonight, write the debit and credit table from memory and test it on five transactions.