The amount of vacation that an employee has earned but has not yet taken.
The amount of vacation that an employee has earned but has not yet taken.
The last-in, first-out cost flow assumption under the perpetual inventory system. The last (most recent) costs as of the time that goods are sold are the first costs removed from inventory. The oldest costs as of the...
What are dividends? In accounting, dividends often refers to the cash dividends that a corporation pays to its stockholders (or shareholders). Dividends are often paid quarterly, but could be paid at other times. For a...
Present value.
See first in, first out (FIFO).
Also referred to as peripheral activities. A company’s activities outside of its main activities of buying/producing and selling. Examples include a retailer’s financing function involving interest revenue...
Gross wages or gross salaries minus withholdings for payroll taxes and other items such as insurance, union dues, United Way, etc. Also referred to as “take home pay” or the amount the employee...
The amounts earned on money invested. Often this is interest and dividends earned on a company’s investment in stocks and bonds of other companies.
The amount that a recurring equal amount deposited at the end of each period will grow to under compounded interest. An ordinary annuity is also known as an annuity in arrears.
Usually a permanently restricted asset for which the principal portion must be retained indefinitely. The earnings from an endowment fund could be unrestricted or temporarily restricted.
This preferred stock feature assures the owner that any omitted dividends on this stock will be made up before the common stockholders will receive a dividend. Any omitted dividends on cumulative preferred stock are...
This term refers to checking account balances. On a bank’s balance sheet, demand deposits are reported as current liabilities.
Usually a plastic card that is used in place of writing a check. The amount of the transaction is immediately deducted from the user’s checking account.
A cost flow assumption where the last (recent) costs are assumed to flow out of the asset account first. This means the first (oldest) costs remain on hand. To learn more, see Explanation of Inventory and Cost of Goods...
A diagram depicting a company’s hierarchy or chain of command, its business segments, functions, and departments.
The amount needed to replace an asset such as inventory, equipment, buildings, etc. If an asset’s replacement cost is greater than the asset’s carrying amount, the cost principle prohibits the use of the...
In the 1970’s the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) articulated three objectives of financial reporting. In summary, financial information should (1) be useful to investors and lenders, (2) be helpful in...
Assets other than cash, accounts receivables, and notes receivables. Holders of nonmonetary assets could avoid holding losses during periods of inflation.
See mixed expenses.
An asset representing the right to receive the principal amount contained in a written promissory note. Principal that is to be received within one year of the balance sheet date is reported as a current asset. Any...
An individual owner of a business that is not incorporated.
Current assets minus current liabilities.
A method where only the variable manufacturing costs are assigned to inventory and the cost of goods sold. Fixed manufacturing costs are viewed as expenses of the period in which they are incurred. This method is not...
Free on Board. See FOB destination and FOB shipping point.
See job order costing.
Allowing a person or company to purchase goods or services without paying cash at the time of purchase.
The quantity on hand that will trigger an order to buy more items. A company’s reorder point for Product X might be 80 units. When the quantity on hand gets down to 80, a purchase order is prepared to obtain more...
A department that is directly involved in manufacturing products. Examples are the machining, finishing, and assembling departments.
A factory or manufacturing overhead rate used to allocate, apply, assign, or spread indirect product costs to items manufactured. Under traditional cost accounting, the burden rate might be a percentage of direct labor...
An actual count of the goods owned by the business.
See accrued payroll.
The incremental cost of storing or holding inventory. It is an annual percentage that includes the cost of rent, insurance, cost of capital, deterioration and obsolescence.
In accounting and bookkeeping this term is used to describe paying a vendor more than once for the amount owed.
The first section of the statement of cash flows. To learn more, see Explanation of Cash Flow Statement.
Are the goods purchased by a retailer an expense or an asset? Definition of Goods Purchased by a Retailer The goods purchased by a retailer are the products or merchandise that it buys and plans to resell. The goods that...
What is the working capital turnover ratio? Definition of Working Capital Turnover Ratio The working capital turnover ratio is also referred to as net sales to working capital. It indicates a company’s effectiveness in...
If a customer pays for the same invoice twice, should the customer be informed? I say yes. If you become aware of the double payment when posting the customer’s second remittance, I would double check your records...
What is the entry when a contract is signed? Accounting Entry When Signing a Contract Merely signing a contract does not by itself require a journal entry. In other words, signing a contract for a future transaction does...
Employer payroll taxes include an employer’s portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes and the state and federal unemployment taxes.
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