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BOT = Value of exports – Value of imports
        = 250 – 200 = 50 crores

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Meaning of Balance of Payments Account (BOP Account). A balance of payment account is a systematic record of all economic transactions between residents of a country and the residents of foreign countries during a given period of time. BOP Account records a country’s all transactions with the rest of the world involving inflow and outflow of foreign exchange. Thus BOP Account is basically a flow of foreign exchange account.
Simply put, BOP account is a statement of country's sources and uses of foreign exchange in which main (i) sources are: exports, transfers and remittances from abroad, borrowings from abroad, foreign investments and (ii) uses are: imports, transfers to abroad, lending abroad and purchase of assets etc.
BOP account, like a typical business account, is based on double entry system which contains two sides, namely, Credit side and Debit side. Any transaction which brings in foreign exchange (currency) is recorded on credit side whereas any transaction that causes a country to lose foreign exchange is recorded on debit side. For example export is a credit item as it brings in foreign exchange whereas import is a debit item since it causes outflow of foreign exchange. Similarly borrowing from rest of world (ROW) is a credit item while lending to ROW is a debit item

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Features of Balance of Payment Account:
(a) (i) It is a systematic record of all economic transactions between residents of one country and rest of the world.
(ii) It includes all transactions in goods (visible items), services (invisible) and assets (flow of capital) during a period of time.
(iii) It is constructed on double entry system of accounting. Thus every international transaction will result in credit entry and debit entry of equal size.
(iv) All economic transactions that are carried out with the rest of world are either credited or debited.
(v) In accounting sense total debits will always be equal to total credits. Thus balance of payments will always he in equilibrium. But in economic sense if receipts are greater than payments, there is surplus in BOP. Similarly, if payments are greater than receipts, there is deficit in BOP.
(b)    BOP account records a country’s all economic transactions with rest of world which involve inflow or outflow of foreign exchange.
(c)    Visible and Invisible items. Export and import of goods (like machinery, tea) are visible items because goods are visible. As against it, export and import of services (like shipping, banking, tourism) are invisible items since services cannot be seen.
Importance of BOP account. It is like a mirror which reflects economic health of a country. Persistent deficit in BOP is a cause of worry for the country. It has to be settled by short term loans or depletion of official reserve of foreign exchange or gold.

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Visible and Invisible items. Visible items of BOP account are those material goods which are seen crossing the border. These are actually recorded at ports. Examples of visible items are exports and imports of goods like machinery, rice, tea, cloth, etc. because they are visible to eyes. Again the balance of exports and imports of goods is called balance of visible trade. Invisible items of BOP account are those which are not seen crossing the borders. These are not recorded at ports. All types of services like services of shipping, banking, tourism, investment services and unilateral transfers are invisible items. The balance of exports and imports of invisibles is called balance of invisible trade.

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BOT = Value of exports – Value of imports
–5,000 = Value of exports – 9,000
Value of exports = 9,000 – 5,000 = 4,000 crores