Weekly Income Statement When I became a director of a meatpacking company, I was concerned about the thin profit margins, the corporation’s lack of working capital, and my inexperience in the industry. The company...
Weekly Income Statement When I became a director of a meatpacking company, I was concerned about the thin profit margins, the corporation’s lack of working capital, and my inexperience in the industry. The company...
Will every transaction affect an income statement account and a balance sheet account? Definition of Income Statement and Balance Sheet Accounts A company’s general ledger accounts are arranged into two categories...
Would you please help me understand opportunity cost? You might think of opportunity cost as the profit you had to forego. Let’s illustrate this with a little story. Suppose that you are the sole owner of a company...
What does understated mean? Definition of Understated In accounting, understated means that a reported amount is less than the actual, true amount based on the accounting rules. In other words, the reported amount can be...
Why are revenues credited? Why Revenues are Credited Revenues cause owner’s equity to increase. Since the normal balance for owner’s equity is a credit balance, revenues must be recorded as a credit. At the end of...
What is the rationale for not reporting plant assets at their liquidation value? I will assume that the plant assets‘ liquidation values are higher than the present carrying values when answering your question. Plant...
What is the profit margin (after tax) ratio? Definition of Profit Margin Ratio The after tax profit margin ratio expresses the company’s net income or earnings as a percent of the company’s net sales. In other words,...
What are nonmanufacturing overhead costs? Definition of Nonmanufacturing Overhead Costs Nonmanufacturing overhead costs are the business expenses that are outside of a company’s manufacturing operations. In other...
What are accrued revenues and when are they recorded? Definition of Accrued Revenues Accrued revenues include service revenues, interest income, sales of goods, etc. which have been earned by a business, but the...
What is the difference between break-even point and payback period? Definition of Break-Even Point The break-even point is the amount of sales required to cover a company’s costs and expenses that are reported on its...
What is the periodic inventory system? Definition of Periodic Inventory System The periodic inventory system does not update the general ledger account Inventory when a company purchases goods to be resold. Rather than...
What is the journal entry to record a one-year subscription for a magazine? Ways to Record One-Year Subscriptions Let’s assume that the cost of the one-year subscription for a monthly trade publication is $120. Let’s...
What is FIFO? Definition of FIFO In accounting, FIFO is the acronym for First-In, First-Out. It is a cost flow assumption usually associated with the valuation of inventory and the cost of goods sold. Under FIFO, the...
What is the purpose of the cash flow statement? Definition of Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement or statement of cash flows or SCF identifies a company’s major cash inflows and outflows that occurred the same...
What is the meaning of debit? Definition of Debit The term debit is similar to the term used in Italy more than 500 years ago when the double entry accounting system was documented. What you need to know today is that...
What is capex? Definition of Capex Capex is a shortened form of the term capital expenditure or capital expenditures. Capex is often used when referring one or both of the following: Actual amounts that were spent during...
How do you write off a bad account? Definition of the Write-off of a Bad Account The write-off of a bad account usually refers to eliminating an account receivable due to the customer’s inability to pay the amount...
What is the difference between an adjunct account and a contra account? Definition of Adjunct Account An adjunct account is a general ledger account that is related to another general ledger account. The combination of...
What is a variable expense? Definition of Variable Expense An expense is variable when its total amount changes in proportion to the change in sales, production, or some other activity. In other words, a variable expense...
Why does commitment and contingencies appear on the balance sheet without an amount? Definition of Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and contingencies is a balance sheet line with no amount reported. The line...
What if an employee's actual vacation payment is greater than the amount that has been accrued? Let’s assume that a company’s accounting year ends on December 31 and the company has only one employee who worked the...
What is depreciation expense? Definition of Depreciation Expense Depreciation expense is the appropriate portion of a company’s fixed asset’s cost that is being used up during the accounting period shown in the...
What is a promissory note? Definition of Promissory Note A promissory note is a written promise to pay an amount of money by a specified date (or perhaps on demand). The maker of the promissory note agrees to pay the...
Is rent expense a period cost or a product cost? Definition of Rent Expense Rent expense is often a monthly amount paid by a company for use of a building. Typically, the rent is due on the first day of every month that...
What is the income statement? Definition of Income Statement The income statement is also known as the statement of operations, profit and loss statement, and statement of earnings. It is one of a company’s main...
What is the break-even point? Definition of Break-even Point In accounting, the break-even point refers to the revenues necessary to cover a company’s total amount of fixed and variable expenses during a specified...
Are utility bills an expense or a liability? Definition of Utility Bills Utility bills are invoices received by a company for the natural gas, electricity, water, and sewer charges that the company used during a previous...
What is long-term debt? Definition of Long-term Debt In accounting, long-term debt generally refers to a company’s loans and other liabilities that will not become due within one year of the balance sheet date. (The...
What are debits and credits? Definition of Debits and Credits Debits and credits are terms used in accounting and bookkeeping systems for the past five centuries. They are part of the double entry system which results in...
What is Construction Work-in-Progress? Definition of Construction Work-in-Progress Construction Work-in-Progress is a noncurrent asset account in which the costs of constructing long-term, fixed assets are recorded. The...
What is the statement of comprehensive income? Definition of Statement of Comprehensive Income The statement of comprehensive income is one of the five financial statements required in a complete set of financial...
What are cost flow assumptions? Definition of Cost Flow Assumptions The term cost flow assumptions refers to the manner in which costs are removed from a company’s inventory and are reported as the cost of goods sold....
What is sales mix? Definition of Sales Mix Sales mix is the relative proportion or ratio of a business’s products that are sold. Sales mix is important because a company’s products usually have different degrees of...
What is a customer deposit? Definition of Customer Deposit A customer deposit could be money that a company receives from a customer prior to the company earning it (by providing the customer with goods or services). In...
What is a checking account? Definition of Checking Account A checking account is a bank account in which a company deposits money and can subsequently withdraw the money by writing a check, using a debit card, arranging...
What is an outstanding check? Definition of Outstanding Check An outstanding check is a check that a company has issued and recorded in its general ledger accounts, but the check has not yet cleared the bank account on...
What is a lien? Definition of Lien A lien is a legal document filed by a creditor (lender) in order to record its claim on certain assets of the debtor (borrower). The lien is likely filed at the county government office...
What is job order costing? Definition of Job Order Costing Job order costing or job costing is a system for assigning and accumulating manufacturing costs of an individual unit of output. The job order costing system is...
What is a blank check? Definition of Blank Check A blank check often refers to a check that has been signed by an authorized check signer without completing the other information (date, payee, amount). A blank check...
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...
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