What is the difference between assets and fixed assets? Assets are resources owned by a company as the result of transactions. Examples of assets are cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid insurance, land,...
What is the difference between assets and fixed assets? Assets are resources owned by a company as the result of transactions. Examples of assets are cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid insurance, land,...
What items are added to the balance per bank on the bank reconciliation? Bank Reconciliation Adjustments to Bank Balance The items that are added to the balance per bank when doing a bank reconciliation include: Deposits...
What is the difference between a contingent liability and an estimated liability? Definition of a Contingent Liability A contingent liability is a potential liability (and a potential loss or potential expense). For a...
What is the entry for a loan to an employee? Definition of Loan to Employee A loan to an employee is money advanced by the company to assist the employee. If the employee is expected to repay the loan within one year of...
What does per annum mean? Definition of Per Annum Per annum means yearly or annually. It is a common phrase used to describe an interest rate. Often “per annum” is omitted, as in “I have a 4% mortgage loan.” or...
How does petty cash affect expenses? Definition of Petty Cash Petty cash is a small amount of currency and coins that a company has available to make very small payments instead of requesting and processing a company...
In adjusting entries, how do I know which T-accounts to use? We illustrate the common adjusting entries with the use of T-accounts in the Explanation of the Topic Adjusting Entries available for your reading at no...
What is the difference between information and data? I was taught that information is useful data. The point is there are lots of data (plural of datum) everywhere, and most of the data will not be useful to a decision...
What is an annuity in present value calculations? In present value calculations, an annuity is a series of equal cash amounts occurring at equal time intervals. The identical cash amounts are sometimes referred to as...
What causes an unfavorable fixed overhead budget variance? An unfavorable fixed overhead budget variance results when the actual amount spent on fixed manufacturing overhead costs exceeds the budgeted amount. The fixed...
What is the difference between prime costs and conversion costs? Cost Categories of a Manufactured Product Prime costs and conversion costs pertain to the three cost categories of a manufactured product: Direct materials...
What are the advantages of departmentalizing manufacturing overhead costs? The departmentalizing of manufacturing overhead costs allows for better planning and control if the head of each department is held responsible...
What is the coefficient of determination? The coefficient of determination is a statistic which indicates the percentage change in the amount of the dependent variable that is “explained by” the changes in the...
What is the coefficient of correlation? Definition of Coefficient of Correlation In simple linear regression analysis, the coefficient of correlation (or correlation coefficient) is a statistic which indicates an...
What is the dividend yield? The dividend yield is the annual cash dividend per share of common stock divided by the market price of a share of the common stock. Usually, fast growing corporations have a low dividend...
What is yield to maturity? Definition of Yield to Maturity Yield to maturity is the total return that will be earned by someone who purchases a bond and holds it until its maturity date. The yield to maturity might also...
What does overstated mean? Definition of Overstated When an accountant uses the term overstated, it means two things: The reported amount is incorrect, and The reported amount is more than the true or correct amount. In...
Isn't all overhead fixed? Not all overhead is fixed. Some manufacturing overhead costs, which are also referred to as indirect factory costs, are variable. A common example of a variable overhead cost is the electricity...
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 is GAAP? Definition of GAAP GAAP is the acronym for generally accepted accounting principles. GAAP consists of the following: Basic underlying accounting principles, assumptions, and concepts such as the cost...
What is absorption costing? Definition of Absorption Costing Absorption costing (also known as full absorption costing) indicates that all of the manufacturing costs have been assigned to (absorbed by) the units of goods...
What is the difference between Present Value (PV) and Net Present Value (NPV)? Definition of Present Value (PV) Present value or PV is the result of discounting one or more future amounts to the present. The greater the...
What is a BOM? Definition of BOM BOM is the acronym for bill of materials. A BOM is a listing of the quantities of each of the materials used to manufacture a product. Industrial manufacturers are likely to have an...
Is there a relationship between direct materials variances and direct labor variances? Definition of Direct Materials Variances Direct materials variances (pertaining to standard costing) commonly consist of two...
Why use normal costing instead of actual costing? Definition of Normal Costing For a manufacturer, normal costing means assigning the following costs to the actual goods produced each month: Actual direct materials...
Why does the fixed cost per unit change? Definition of Fixed Cost per Unit Fixed costs such as rent, salaries, depreciation, etc. generally do not change in total within a reasonable range of volume or activity. On the...
What is the difference between a cost center and a profit center? Definition of Cost Center A cost center is a subunit of a company that is responsible only for its costs. A few examples of cost centers are: Production...
Are repairs to office equipment and factory equipment period costs? Repairs to office equipment are period costs. That is, the cost of the repairs to office equipment will be reported as a selling, general and...
Is the depreciation of delivery trucks a period cost or is it manufacturing overhead? The depreciation on the trucks used to deliver products to customers is a period cost. The depreciation on delivery trucks will be...
Is a favorable variance always an indicator of efficiency in operation? In a standard costing system, some favorable variances are not indicators of efficiency in operations. For example, the materials price variance,...
What is the meaning of a favorable budget variance? Definition of a Favorable Budget Variance A favorable budget variance means that the actual amount that occurred was better for the company (or organization) than the...
What is value billing? Value billing is a way of billing a client for services provided. Basically, the amount billed is based on the value of the service (or information) instead of the number of hours spent. The...
What is a budget variance? A budget variance results when an actual amount is different from a planned or budgeted amount. A budget variance can occur for revenues and for expenses. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the...
What is the normal balance of the direct materials variance accounts? I don’t believe there is a normal balance. If a company pays exactly the standard cost of its direct materials, there will be no balance in the...
What is NIFO? NIFO is the acronym for next-in, first-out. NIFO is a cost flow assumption, just as FIFO and LIFO are cost flow assumptions. However, NIFO is not acceptable for financial reporting since it calls for a...
Are repairs to office equipment an expense? Repairing and maintaining office equipment is an immediate expense. This is true even if the repair cost is a very large amount. If a large expenditure is made to improve...
What is the meaning of debtor? Definition of Debtor A debtor is a person, company, or other entity that owes money. In other words, the debtor has a debt or legal obligation to pay the amount owed. Example of Debtor If...
What is a petty cash voucher? Definition of Petty Cash Voucher A petty cash voucher is usually a small form that is used to document a disbursement (payment) from a petty cash fund. Petty cash vouchers are also referred...
What is columnar? Prior to electronic worksheets, accountants had several pads of paper with a varying number of columns (and rows) preprinted on them. The pads of paper were labeled as columnar pads. The preprinted...
What is an adjusted trial balance? Definition of an Adjusted Trial Balance The adjusted trial balance is an internal document that lists the general ledger account titles and their balances after any adjustments have...
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