Cambridge 0452 and 0985 · Sub-topic 5.2
Partnerships
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
- Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership and describe the partnership agreement.
- Prepare the income statement, appropriation account and statement of financial position.
- Record interest on loans, capital and drawings, salaries and the division of residual profit.
- Prepare partners' capital and current accounts and show them in the statement of financial position.
Official wording: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), page 16; Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for examination in 2026 (Version 2, December 2025), page 15. See all sources.
How our teachers teach it
The appropriation account is where the partners' agreement turns into numbers. Our teachers have students read the agreement first and list each entitlement, such as salary, interest and ratio, before touching a figure. Current accounts then follow mechanically, with the same entitlements on the credit side and drawings on the debit side.
If any of these slips sound familiar, we can help. A teacher can mark your child's answers on partnerships line by line and show where the marks go. Book a trial class.
How the wording changed for 2027
Both syllabuses exclude dissolution and changes to the profit-sharing ratio. The 2027-2029 syllabus also excludes limited liability partnerships and statements on admission or departure of a partner; the 2026 syllabus excludes admission or departure of a partner.
Where it is examined
Partnerships 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
- Key terms: Partnership, Appropriation account, Interest on capital, Interest on drawings, Partnership salary, Profit-sharing ratio, Partner's current account
- Skills: How to prepare a partnership appropriation account, How to prepare partners' capital and current accounts
- Layouts: Partnership appropriation account format, Partners' capital account format, Partners' current account format, Statement of financial position (partnership) format
- Worked examples: partnership appropriation
- Practice questions: partnership accounts
- One-to-one Cambridge 0452 tuition
Other sub-topics in topic 5
Partnerships: questions
Are admissions of new partners examined?
Does the 0985 (9 to 1) syllabus cover partnerships too?
Which syllabus numbering should I use?
Get help with partnerships
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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