What type of account is the Dividends account? Definition of Dividends Account When a corporation declares a cash dividend, the amount declared will reduce the amount of the corporation’s retained earnings. Instead of...
What type of account is the Dividends account? Definition of Dividends Account When a corporation declares a cash dividend, the amount declared will reduce the amount of the corporation’s retained earnings. Instead of...
What is the difference between a note payable and a bond payable? Definition of Note Payable and Bond Payable For accounting purposes, a note payable and a bond payable have the following similarities: Formal written...
Is depreciation an operating expense? Depreciation Could Be Either an Operating Expense or a Non-operating Expense Depreciation is an operating expense if the asset being depreciated is used in an organization’s main...
What are generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)? Definition of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Generally accepted accounting principles (commonly referred to as GAAP or US GAAP) are the common...
What is the difference between paid-in capital and retained earnings? Definition of Paid-in Capital Paid-in capital is one of the major categories of stockholders’ equity. Generally, paid-in capital reports the amount...
What are accounting principles? Definition of Accounting Principles Accounting principles are the common rules that must be followed when preparing financial statements that are distributed to people outside of the...
What is zero-based budgeting? Definition of Zero-Based Budgeting Zero-based budgeting, or ZBB, is a rigorous budgeting process that requires that every dollar of every expense in the budget be justified, even if the...
What is the internal rate of return? Definition of Internal Rate of Return The internal rate of return is the interest rate that will discount an investment’s future cash amounts to be equal to cash paid at the...
What is the purpose of depreciation? Purpose of Depreciation The purpose of depreciation is to achieve the matching principle of accounting. That is, a company is attempting to match the historical cost of a productive...
What would cause a decrease in accumulated depreciation? Definition of Accumulated Depreciation Accumulated depreciation is the cumulative amount of depreciation taken since a depreciable asset was put into service. The...
What is a liability account? Definition of Liability Account A liability account is a general ledger account in which a company records the following which resulted from business transactions: Amounts owed to suppliers...
Should an owner's compensation be recorded as an expense or in the Drawing account? If the enterprise is a sole proprietorship, the owner’s compensation should be debited to the Drawing account. If the enterprise is a...
What is the definition of capital market? Often, capital market refers to the structured market for trading stocks and bonds. Examples are the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the New...
How do you reduce the break-even point? Definition of Break-even Point The break-even point is the number of units or amount of revenues needed for the company’s income statement to report zero net income or zero net...
What is interest expense? Definition of Interest Expense Interest expense is the cost of borrowing money during a specified period of time. Interest expense is occurring daily, but the interest is likely to be paid...
What is the dividend payout ratio? The dividend payout ratio, or simply the payout ratio, is the percentage of a corporation’s earnings that is paid out in the form of cash dividends. The calculation of the dividend...
What does arms length transaction mean? Definition of Arms Length Transaction An arms length transaction exists when two independent (unrelated) parties are each attempting to get the best deal possible. Example of Arms...
Why is the P&L profit entered on the credit side of the balance sheet? Profit’s Effect on the Balance Sheet The profit or net income belongs to the owner of a sole proprietorship or to the stockholders of a...
What is safety stock? Definition of Safety Stock Safety stock is an additional quantity of an item held by a company in inventory in order to reduce the risk that the item will be out of stock. Safety stock acts as a...
What is trading on equity? Definition of Trading on Equity Trading on equity, which is also referred to as financial leverage, occurs when a corporation uses bonds, other debt, and preferred stock to increase its...
What does it mean to recognize an expense? Definition of Recognize an Expense To recognize an expense means to report the proper amount of an expense on the income statement for the appropriate accounting period. When...
Why is interest expense a nonoperating expense? Definition of Interest Expense as a Nonoperating Expense Interest expense is the cost of borrowing money. For most companies the borrowing of money is not part of their...
What is the meaning of base year? In accounting, base year may refer to the year in which a U.S. business had adopted the LIFO cost flow assumption for valuing its inventory and its cost of goods sold. Under the...
What is the difference between a debit and a debit balance? Definition of Debit A debit is an entry on the left side of a T-account. A debit entry is used to record assets, expenses, losses, and owner’s draws in their...
What is the debt to equity ratio? Definition of Debt to Equity Ratio The debt to equity ratio or debt-equity ratio is the result of dividing a corporation’s total liabilities by the total amount of stockholders’...
What is the difference between net cash flow and net income? Definition of Net Cash Flow Net cash flow is the combination of the cash received and the cash disbursed. In other words, it is the combination of the debit...
What is trend analysis? Definition of Trend Analysis In the analysis of financial information, trend analysis is the presentation of amounts from several years all expressed as a percentage of a base year. Trend analysis...
Where can I find an illustration of a common size balance sheet? You will find an illustration of a common size balance sheet under AccountingCoach.com’s Explanation of Financial Ratios. The common size balance sheet...
Are depreciation, depletion and amortization similar? In accounting the terms depreciation, depletion and amortization often involve the movement of costs from the balance sheet to the income statement in a systematic...
How do I start a petty cash fund? Definition of Petty Cash Fund A petty cash fund is a small amount of money available to pay small amounts without requiring the processing of a business check. Example of Starting a...
What do negative variances indicate? Definition of Negative Variances on Accounting Reports Negative variances are the unfavorable differences between two amounts, such as: The amount by which actual revenues were less...
What are byproducts? Byproducts, or by-products, are products with relatively little value that emerge from a common process along with the main products. The main products have significant value and are referred to as...
What is the transaction approach and balance sheet approach to measuring net income? The transaction approach to measuring net income is the traditional bookkeeping and accounting method. That is, individual transactions...
What is the profit and loss statement? Definition of Profit and Loss Statement The profit and loss statement, or P&L, is a name sometimes used to describe a company’s income statement, statement of income, statement of...
What is the difference between correlation and cause and effect? Definition of Correlation Correlation refers to the association between two or more variables. The association is measured by a statistic known as the...
What does a bookkeeper do? Definition of Bookkeeper A bookkeeper’s role at a company varies by the size and nature of the business. At a very small company without an accountant, the bookkeeper’s duties are likely to...
How does the aging of accounts receivable determine bad debts expense? Definition of Aging of Accounts Receivable The aging of accounts receivable sorts the amounts that a company is owed (from customers who had...
What is simple linear regression analysis? What is Simple Linear Regression Analysis Simple linear regression analysis is a statistical tool for quantifying the relationship between one independent variable (hence...
What is the contribution margin ratio? Definition of Contribution Margin Ratio The contribution margin ratio is the percentage of sales revenues, service revenues, or selling price remaining after subtracting all of the...
What is capital budgeting? Definition of Capital Budgeting Capital budgeting is a process used by companies for evaluating and ranking potential capital expenditures or investments that are significant in amount. A few...
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