What is a contra inventory account? A contra inventory account is a general ledger account with a credit balance. The credit balance in the contra inventory account will be combined with the debit balance in the...
What is a contra inventory account? A contra inventory account is a general ledger account with a credit balance. The credit balance in the contra inventory account will be combined with the debit balance in the...
Why isn't a key employee reported as an asset on the balance sheet? While an employee could be an organization’s most valuable asset, accountants record past transactions that can be measured. Since an employee is not...
What is other comprehensive income? Definition of Other Comprehensive Income Other comprehensive income, or OCI, consists of items that have an effect on the balance sheet amounts, but the effect is not reported on the...
Is advertising an asset or an expense? Definition of Advertising Expense Advertising is the amount a company incurs to promote its products, brands, and image via television, radio, magazines, Internet, etc. Since the...
How does an expense affect the balance sheet? Definition of Expense An expense is a cost that has been used up, expired, or is directly related to the earning of revenues. Most of a company’s expenses fall into the...
What is separation of duties? What is Separation of Duties The separation of duties is one of various internal control techniques for safeguarding a company’s assets. By separating employee’s duties, the likelihood...
What are direct costs? Definition of Direct Costs Direct costs are directly traceable to a cost object such as a product or a department. In other words, direct costs do not have to be allocated to a product, department,...
What are some examples of financing activities on the cash flow statement? Definition of Financing Activities Financing activities reported on the statement of cash flows (SCF) involve changes to the long-term...
How are fully depreciated assets reported on the balance sheet? Definition of Fully Depreciated Asset A fully depreciated asset is a depreciable asset for which no additional depreciation expense will be recorded. In...
What are manufacturing costs? Definition of Manufacturing Costs Manufacturing costs are the costs of materials plus the costs to convert the materials into products. All manufacturing costs must be assigned to the units...
What are the reasons for high inventory days? Definition of Inventory Days I assume that inventory days is referring to the days’ sales in inventory. If so, then inventory days is also related to the inventory turnover...
Depreciation (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (35) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) depreciation This is the systematic allocation of the cost of a building, equipment,...
Accounts Receivable and Bad Debts Expense (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (27) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) accounts receivable This current asset represents a right to...
Accounting Principles(Quick Test) Download PDF After you have answered all 20 questions, click "Grade This Quick Test" at the bottom of the page to view your grade and receive feedback on your answers. Note: Some of the...
Our Explanation of the Balance Sheet provides you with a basic understanding of a corporation's balance sheet (or statement of financial position). You will gain insights regarding the assets, liabilities, and...
Our Explanation of Payroll Accounting discusses the taxes and benefits which are withheld from employees' pay as well as the taxes and benefits that are expenses for the employers. Also provided are examples of the...
Our Explanation of Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold will take your understanding to a new level. You will see how the income statement and balance sheet amounts are affected by the various inventory systems and cost flow...
Our Explanation of Accounts Payable provides insights on the bill paying process in a large company. Included are discussions of the three-way match, early payment discounts, end of period accruals, and more.
Balance Sheet(Quick Test #2 with Coaching) Download PDF This Quick Test with Coaching includes a “View Coaching” button to the right of each answer box. If you choose to click the button, an explanation for the...
What is the accrual basis of accounting? Definition of Accrual Basis of Accounting Under the accrual basis of accounting (or accrual method of accounting), revenues are reported on the income statement when they are...
Our Explanation of Accounting Equation (or bookkeeping equation) illustrates how the double-entry system keeps the accounting equation in balance. You will see how the revenues and expenses on the income statement are...
Our Explanation of Accounting Equation (or bookkeeping equation) illustrates how the double-entry system keeps the accounting equation in balance. You will see how the revenues and expenses on the income statement are...
Accounts Payable For multiple-choice and true/false questions, simply press or click on what you think is the correct answer. For fill-in-the-blank questions, press or click on the blank space provided. If you have...
How does one prepare a company's first bank statement reconciliation? To prepare a bank reconciliation for a company that never prepared one previously, I would first make a list of outstanding checks. For example, if...
What is a flexible budget variance? Definition of Flexible Budget and Flexible Budget Variance First, a flexible budget is a budget in which some amounts will increase or decrease when the level of activity changes. A...
Payroll Accounting For multiple-choice and true/false questions, simply press or click on what you think is the correct answer. For fill-in-the-blank questions, press or click on the blank space provided. If you have...
Our Explanation of Present Value of a Single Amount discusses the time value of money and the need to discount future amounts to the time of an investment or other transaction. The present value of 1 table is used to...
Our Explanation of Standard Costing uses an easy-to-relate to example for illustrating a manufacturer's standard costs and variances. Also provided is a chart which indicates each variance, what it tells you, and where...
What is cost accounting? Definition of Cost Accounting Cost accounting is involved with the following: Determining the costs of products, processes, projects, etc. in order to report the correct amounts on a company’s...
What is straight line depreciation? Definition of Straight-Line Depreciation Straight-line depreciation is the most common method of allocating the cost of a plant asset to expense in the accounting periods during which...
What is the accounting entry to close the sole proprietorship drawing account? Definition of Sole Proprietorship Drawing Account The drawing or withdrawal account for a sole proprietorship is a temporary owner equity’s...
What is the difference between expenses and payments? Definition of Expenses and Payments Under the accrual method of accounting, expenses are costs that have been used up or have been incurred in the process of earning...
What are gross wages? Definition of Gross Wages Gross wages are the amounts earned by employees before the payroll withholding taxes and other deductions are subtracted. Sometimes gross wages is used to describe the...
What is a post-closing trial balance? Definition of Post-closing Trial Balance A post-closing trial balance is a trial balance which is prepared after all of the temporary accounts in the general ledger have been closed....
What is the difference between a ledger and a trial balance? Definition of a Ledger A ledger is often defined as a book of accounts. Today the ledger and its accounts are likely to be an electronic record or file....
What is the statement of cash flows? Definition of Statement of Cash Flows The statement of cash flows (SCF) is one of the required external financial statements. The SCF is commonly referred to as the cash flow...
What is a sole proprietorship? Definition of Sole Proprietorship A sole proprietorship is a form of business organization that is owned by one person and is easy to start. The owner is referred to as a sole proprietor....
Should capital budgeting decisions be based on cash flows or revenues and expenses? Definition of Capital Budgeting Decisions Capital budgeting assists in the investment decisions regarding assets that will have an...
What is cost behavior? Definition of Cost Behavior Cost behavior is an indicator of how a cost will change in total when there is a change in some activity. In cost accounting and managerial accounting, three types of...
What is the difference between unearned revenue and unrecorded revenue? Definition of Unearned Revenue In financial accounting, unearned revenue refers to money received prior to being earned. It is also referred to as...
Featured Review
"AccountingCoach is the real deal. I am a new accounting student and found myself very overwhelmed and confused at the start of the Spring semester this past January. I was extremely frustrated and contemplating changing my major (again-- I'd just switched to accounting from Paralegal). I cannot remember how I came across AccountingCoach, but I am so grateful that I did. Any time I feel that I am not getting something, I come to AccountingCoach for easy-to-understand explanations. I was able to pass all of my classes that semester, and I was able to earn a 4.0 this semester because I made straight A's. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this!!!" - Sonya
Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials
Read all 2,645 reviews
For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has
worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.
We now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping: