What is budgeting? Definition of Budgeting Budgeting is the process of preparing detailed projections of future amounts. Companies often engage in two types of budgeting: Operational budgeting, and Capital budgeting...
What is budgeting? Definition of Budgeting Budgeting is the process of preparing detailed projections of future amounts. Companies often engage in two types of budgeting: Operational budgeting, and Capital budgeting...
What is the proper use of the words lend and borrow? If a company is granted a loan from its bank, the company is borrowing money from its bank, and the bank is lending money to one of its customers. In other words, the...
How do you account for a project under construction? Accounting for a Project Under Construction If a company is constructing a major project such as a building, assembly line, etc., the amounts spent on the project will...
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 lead time in purchasing? In purchasing, lead time is the estimated time between ordering goods and receiving the goods. For instance, if 100 units of Product X are ordered on April 11 and are expected to be...
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...
Is AccountingCoach.com based on GAAP or IFRS? The materials presented on AccountingCoach.com are based on U.S. GAAP. Since the accounting materials on AccountingCoach.com are generally introductory concepts, the...
What is the difference between fixed assets and noncurrent assets? Fixed Assets are Part of Noncurrent Assets Fixed assets are one of several categories of noncurrent assets. Fixed assets are usually reported on the...
In accounting, what is the meaning of cr.? In accounting, cr. is the abbreviation for credit. In accounting and in bookkeeping, credit or cr. indicates an entry on the right side of a general ledger account. Credit...
What is a deferred credit? A deferred credit could mean money received in advance of it being earned, such as deferred revenue, unearned revenue, or customer advances. A deferred credit could also result from complicated...
What type of account is the Dividends account? Definition of Dividends Account When a corporation declares a cash dividend, the amount declared will reduce the amount of the corporation’s retained earnings. Instead of...
If a mortgage payment is due on January 1, should the payment be accrued at December 31? The following answer assumes that the accrual basis of accounting (also known as the accrual method of accounting) is being used…...
What does the term arrears mean in accounting? Definition of Arrears In accounting, the term arrears will be used in the following situations: If a corporation does not declare and pay the dividend on its cumulative...
Should an owner's compensation be recorded as an expense or in the Drawing account? If the enterprise is a sole proprietorship, the owner’s compensation should be debited to the Drawing account. If the enterprise is a...
What is a liability account? Definition of Liability Account A liability account is a general ledger account in which a company records the following which resulted from business transactions: Amounts owed to suppliers...
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...
How do you record a dividend payment to stockholders? Definition of Dividend Payment to Stockholders A dividend payment to stockholders is usually a cash payment which reduces the corporation’s asset cash and the...
Do corporations issue both common stock and preferred stock? Some corporations issue both common stock and preferred stock. However, most corporations issue only common stock. In other words, it is necessary that a...
What is the difference between liquidity and liquidation? Definition of Liquidity Liquidity usually refers to a company’s ability to pay its bills when they become due. Liquidity is often evaluated by comparing a...
What is financial reporting? Definition of Financial Reporting Financial reporting includes all of a company’s communication of financial information to people outside of the company. Examples of Financial Reporting...
Our Explanation of Stockholders' Equity covers the unique terminology for a corporation's paid-in capital, retained earnings, treasury stock, and accumulated other comprehensive income. Included are cash dividends, stock...
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.
Our Explanation of Chart of Accounts shows how a typical chart of accounts is organized and examples of possible account numbering. It concludes with a quick review of debits and credits.
Our Explanation of Bonds Payable covers the recording of bonds, the accrual of interest expense, and the amortization of the discount and premium on bonds payable. You gain an understanding on why the market value of...
Bank Reconciliation(Quick Test #3 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...
Our Explanation of Bank Reconciliation will show you the needed adjustments to the balance on the bank statement and also the adjustments needed to the balance in the related general ledger account. A comprehensive...
Adjusting Entries 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...
Stockholders' Equity (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (39) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) stockholders' equity (or) shareholders' equity The total of this section of a...
Our Explanation of Working Capital and Liquidity provides you with an in-depth look at the components of working capital and the challenges of converting current assets to cash before obligations come due. You will see...
Our Explanation of Financial Statements provides you with the highlights of each of the five external financial statements issued by U.S. corporations. Our insights will give you a good understanding of what the...
Our Explanation of Bonds Payable covers the recording of bonds, the accrual of interest expense, and the amortization of the discount and premium on bonds payable. You gain an understanding on why the market value of...
Our Explanation of Stockholders' Equity covers the unique terminology for a corporation's paid-in capital, retained earnings, treasury stock, and accumulated other comprehensive income. Included are cash dividends, stock...
Our Explanation of Nonprofit Accounting includes a chart that contrasts the financial statements of a nonprofit (or not-for-profit) organization with those of a for-profit business corporation. There are many examples to...
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...
How do you reduce the break-even point? Definition of Break-even Point The break-even point is the number of units or amount of revenues needed for the company’s income statement to report zero net income or zero net...
What is the difference between correlation and cause and effect? Definition of Correlation Correlation refers to the association between two or more variables. The association is measured by a statistic known as the...
What is the dividend payout ratio? The dividend payout ratio, or simply the payout ratio, is the percentage of a corporation’s earnings that is paid out in the form of cash dividends. The calculation of the dividend...
What is the average collection period? Definition of Average Collection Period The average collection period is the average number of days between 1) the dates that credit sales were made, and 2) the dates that the money...
How do we deal with a negative contribution margin ratio when calculating our break-even point? Definition of Negative Contribution Margin A negative contribution margin ratio indicates that a company’s variable costs...
What do negative variances indicate? Definition of Negative Variances on Accounting Reports Negative variances are the unfavorable differences between two amounts, such as: The amount by which actual revenues were less...
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For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has
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