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Cambridge 0452 and 0985 · Sub-topic 4.1

Capital and revenue expenditure and receipts

The 4 skills the syllabus asks for, the slips that cost marks, and how our teachers explain it.

What students must be able to do

  • Distinguish capital from revenue expenditure and capital from revenue receipts.
  • Account for each correctly.
  • Calculate and comment on the effect on profit of treating an item incorrectly.
  • Calculate and comment on the effect on asset valuations of incorrect treatment.

Official wording: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), page 14; Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for examination in 2026 (Version 2, December 2025), page 13. See all sources.

How our teachers teach it

The question to ask is whether the spending buys something that will help the business for more than one year. Our teachers train students to test every unusual item, such as delivery or installation costs of a new machine, against that single question. The wrong treatment changes both profit and the value of assets, and examiners ask for both effects.

If any of these slips sound familiar, we can help. A teacher can mark your child's answers on capital and revenue expenditure and receipts line by line and show where the marks go. Book a trial class.

Unchanged between 2026 and 2027

The official wording of this sub-topic is essentially the same in both syllabuses, so students on either version can prepare in the same way.

Where it is examined

Capital and revenue expenditure and receipts can appear in either paper, as a short question or as part of a longer task. Cambridge bases both papers on the whole syllabus. See the guides to Paper 1 and Paper 2 for the format.

Sources: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), pages 9, 22. See all sources.

Practise it

Other sub-topics in topic 4

Capital and revenue expenditure and receipts: questions

Do students calculate the effect or just describe it?
The syllabus asks for both calculation and comment, so we practise stating the new profit figure and then explaining in one sentence why it moves.
Does the 0985 (9 to 1) syllabus cover capital and revenue expenditure and receipts too?
Yes. For examinations in 2027, 2028 and 2029 the 0985 subject content is word-for-word the same as 0452, so this sub-topic is identical on both. Only the reporting scale differs.
Which syllabus numbering should I use?
It is numbered 4.1 in both syllabuses: page 14 of the 2027 to 2029 syllabus and page 13 of the 2026 syllabus.

Get help with capital and revenue expenditure and receipts

The trial class works through Cambridge IGCSE Accounting questions with a teacher, so you see how the paper is approached. One-to-one and online, from RM75/hr.

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