account Inventory is reduced through a credit to a contra inventory account, which is referred to as a valuation account. The debit in the entry to write down inventory is recorded in an account such as Loss on...
account Inventory is reduced through a credit to a contra inventory account, which is referred to as a valuation account. The debit in the entry to write down inventory is recorded in an account such as Loss on...
. The landlord requires a security deposit of $1,000. The company debits the long-term asset Security Deposit for $1,000 and credits Cash for $1,000. The landlord debits Cash for $1,000 and credits a liability account...
What is FICA? Definition of FICA FICA is the acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act. FICA consists of the U.S. Social Security payroll tax and the Medicare payroll tax. The FICA payroll tax is withheld from...
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...
ledger account Sales Discounts is a contra revenue account. Sales discounts are not reported as an expense. Example of Sales Discounts A company offers its business customer sales discounts of 1/10, net 30. For the...
What is a nonprofit organization? A nonprofit organization is an organization without commercial owners and which addresses the needs of society. Nonprofit organizations are also known as not-for-profits, NFP’s or...
savings account or money market account. The length of a certificate of deposit will vary. It could be for one month, three months, six months, one year, 17 months, three years, etc. Generally the longer the time until...
What is ERP? Definition of ERP In accounting, ERP is the acronym for enterprise resource planning. ERP could be described as a database software package that supports all of a business’s processes and operations...
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 the cash flow statement? Definition of Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement (officially known as the statement of cash flows) is one of the required financial statements issued by U.S. businesses (and by...
What is a transposition error? Definition of Transposition Error A transposition error occurs when an amount is recorded incorrectly as the result of switching the positions of two (or more) digits. The switching of the...
What is not sufficient funds? Definition of Not Sufficient Funds Not sufficient funds or NSF or insufficient funds is a term to describe a check that has been returned by the bank because the balance in the checking...
during their useful lives. Plant assets (other than land) are depreciated over their useful lives and each year’s depreciation is credited to a contra asset account Accumulated Depreciation. Plant assets and the...
What is a dividend and why is it needed? A dividend paid by a corporation is a distribution of profits to the owners of the corporation. The owners of a corporation are known as stockholders or shareholders. (In a sole...
as of the date of the bank statement, but were not deposited in time for them to appear on the bank statement Bank errors which resulted in too much withdrawn from the bank account or too little added to the bank...
How do the income statements of a sole proprietorship and a regular corporation differ? Definition of Income Statements of Sole Proprietorship and Regular Corporation The income statement of a sole proprietorship and a...
Is the sales tax on merchandise purchased for resale included in inventory? In our state, sales tax is paid only by the end customer. In other words, a retailer does not pay sales tax on merchandise that is purchased for...
What is a LIFO Reserve? Definition of LIFO Reserve The LIFO reserve is a contra inventory account that indicates the difference between the following: Inventory cost reported on the balance sheet under the LIFO cost flow...
What is cycle counting? Cycle counting refers to physically counting a portion of the inventory items on many days throughout the year instead of counting all of the items on a single day near the end of the year. For...
What is a compilation? Definition of Compilation A compilation refers to a company’s financial statements that have been prepared or compiled by an outside accountant. A compilation is usually part of an accounting...
Why aren't retained earnings distributed as dividends to the stockholders? Definition of Retained Earnings Retained earnings is one component of the stockholders’ equity section of a corporation’s balance sheet. Some...
What is the gross profit method? Gross Profit Method Definition The gross profit method is a technique used to estimate the amount of ending inventory. The technique could be used for monthly financial statements when a...
What is the employer matching of FICA? Definition of FICA FICA is the acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which requires employers to withhold the following from each employee’s paycheck: Social Security...
to one of its suppliers in another region of the country. As of December 31, the check has not yet cleared the company’s checking account. Therefore, this $8,120 check is an uncleared cheque or an outstanding check....
What is the units of activity depreciation? Definition of Units-of-Activity Depreciation The units-of-activity depreciation is unique among the common methods of depreciation in that the useful life of the asset being...
the appraisal amounts as a logical way to divide up the cost of $220,000 between land and building. Here is one approach: Assign or allocate $44,000 to the account Land. This is 20% of the $220,000 cost. Assign or...
is a credit. A debit is also the amount entered on the left-side of a T-account. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read Must-Watch Video Learn How to Advance Your Accounting and Bookkeeping Career Perform...
How are dividends paid when there are dividends in arrears? Definition of Dividends in Arrears Dividends in arrears exist when a corporation has: Cumulative preferred stock Omitted past dividends on the cumulative...
What is annualizing? Definition of Annualizing Annualizing means taking a partial year amount and converting it to a full year amount. We will use several examples to illustrate how this works. Examples of Annualizing A...
What is COS? Definition of COS In accounting, the acronym COS could indicate either cost of sales or cost of services. The income statement of a manufacturer or a retailer might use the term cost of sales or it might use...
What is an asset's useful life? Definition of Asset’s Useful Life An asset’s useful life is the estimated period of time (or total amount of activity) that a long-lived asset will be economically feasible for use in...
If an accrual adjusting entry increases an expense and a liability, how does the balance sheet remain in balance? An expense is a temporary account which reduces owner’s equity or stockholders’ equity. The decrease...
What does crossfoot mean? Definition of Crossfoot or Crossfooting Accountants and auditors use the word foot to mean adding one or more columns of numbers. When there are several columns of numbers along with a...
with Par Values If a corporation’s common stock has a par value, the par value of an issued share of common stock must be recorded in an account separate from the amount received over and above the amount of par...
What is a debenture? A debenture is an unsecured bond. In other words, a debenture is a bond without a lien on specific assets owned by the issuing corporation. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read...
What is interest payable? Definition of Interest Payable Interest payable is the interest expense that has been incurred (has already occurred) but has not been paid as of the date of the balance sheet. [Interest payable...
What is a source document? Definition of Source Document A source document is an original record which contains the detail that supports or substantiates a transaction that will be (or has been) entered in an accounting...
What is LIFO? Definition of LIFO LIFO is the acronym for last-in, first-out, which is a cost flow assumption often used by U.S. corporations in moving costs from inventory to the cost of goods sold. Under LIFO, the most...
Are LIFO inventory amounts ever written-up to their market value? LIFO inventory amounts will not be written-up, even when the current market value of the inventory is far greater than the amount reported on the balance...
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...
Featured Review
"This service has helped me tremendously over the years. I signed up for this service when I attended school for my finance degree. This not only helped me through classes obtaining Summa Cum Laude, but also currently helps me today. I'm the finance director of a manufacturing company, and I use this site often to stay on top of any changes and assist me with training my employees. It's clear and direct and very informative. Along with tests and a wonderful glossary, I'm not sure what I would do without it. Thank you for providing such an excellent service to assist in my accounting career journey." - Jetawn R.
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: