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...
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 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 illusory profit? Illusory profit, also called phantom profit, is the difference between 1) the profit reported using historical costs required by US GAAP, and 2) the profit computed using replacement costs....
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 it mean to rotate stock? Definition of Rotating Inventory Stock To rotate stock means to arrange the oldest units in inventory so they are sold before the newer units. The goal is to avoid losses due to getting...
Is the current portion of long term debt adjusted monthly? A monthly adjustment to the current portion of long term debt is necessary when: 1. the company issues monthly balance sheets, and 2. the amount to be paid on a...
What is capital stock? Definition of Capital Stock Capital stock refers to the shares of ownership that have been issued by a corporation. The amount received by the corporation when its shares of capital stock were...
is the cost of goods on hand, it makes sense to relate it to the cost of goods sold. Assume that during the past year a company’s inventory had an average cost of $10,000. (This was the average of the amounts in the...
an accounting adjusting entry in which the account Depreciation Expense is debited and the contra asset account Accumulated Depreciation is credited. Effects of Depreciation The following are some of the effects for a...
adjusting entry that debits Vacation Expense for $200 (10 hours X $20 per hour) and credits Vacation Liability for $200. As a result, the balance in the balance sheet account Vacation Liability at December 31 is $2,400...
What is the employer's Social Security tax rate for 2022 and 2023? Employer’s Social Security Payroll Tax for 2022 The employer’s Social Security payroll tax rate for 2022 (January 1 through December 31, 2022) is the...
Is income tax an expense or liability? Definition of Income Tax In the accounting for a regular U.S. corporation, income tax usually refers to the federal, state, local, and foreign countries’ taxes that are levied...
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...
Why is the accuracy of inventory valuation so important? Definition of Inventory Accuracy Inventory accuracy means the following: Accurate counts of the items in inventory Proper cost of each item in inventory (based on...
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...
What is float? Definition of Float In accounting and bookkeeping, float is the time between the writing of a check and the time that the check clears the bank account on which it is drawn. Examples of Float Payer...
What is going concern? Definition of Going Concern The going concern assumption is a basic underlying assumption of accounting. For a company to be a going concern, it must be able to continue operating long enough to...
What is EBIT? EBIT is the acronym for earnings before interest and taxes. In other words, EBIT is a corporation’s net income assuming it had no interest expense and no income tax expense. (Since the amount of earnings...
What is a blank endorsement? In the case of a check payable to John Smith (the payee), a blank endorsement would be the signature of John Smith on the back side of the check without any other words above or below his...
If I want a gross margin of 25%, what percent should I mark up my product? Definition of Gross Margin Gross margin as a percentage is the gross profit divided by the selling price. For example, if a product sells for...
What is the monthly close? Definition of Monthly Close In accounting, monthly close is a series of steps and procedures that are followed so that a company’s monthly financial statements are in compliance with the...
How do you balance a checkbook? Definition of Balance a Checkbook To balance a company checkbook means comparing the amounts on the bank statement (or other bank account detail) to the amount in the company’s...
How do you record the sale of land? Definition of Sale of Land Assume that a retailer sells land that it had been holding for a future store. The retailer must remove the cost of the land from its general ledger asset...
suppliers $10,000 and the supplier gives the company a written promissory note to repay the amount in six months along with interest at 8% per year. The company will debit its current asset account Notes Receivable for...
What is an ordinary annuity? Definition of Ordinary Annuity In accounting, an ordinary annuity refers to a series of identical cash amounts with each amount occurring at the end of equal time intervals. Another term for...
What is the conservatism principle? Definition of Conservatism Principle In accounting, the conservatism principle (or accounting constraint) directs an accountant, who is faced with doubt between two possible...
Is the sales tax paid on merchandise that you will resell an expense? I believe that most states have sales tax exemptions for merchandise purchased for resale. Check with your state’s sales tax department to see if...
starting next year. Because of this assurance, the utility will record the $300,000 as a deferred asset. In each of the five subsequent years, the utility will credit the deferred asset account for $60,000 and will...
What is an invoice? Definition of Invoice An invoice is a dated bill prepared by the seller of goods sold (or services provided) which includes brief descriptions of the items, quantities of items and their unit prices,...
What is a fringe benefit rate? Definition of Fringe Benefit Rate A fringe benefit rate is a percentage that results from dividing the cost of an employee’s fringe benefits by the wages paid to the employee for the...
What is an impairment? Definition of Impairment The term impairment is associated with an asset currently having a market value that is less than the asset’s book value . A test is done to determine whether the...
What is Additional Medicare Tax? Definition of Additional Medicare Tax The Additional Medicare Tax is one of the U.S. government’s payroll withholding taxes that is paid solely by employees and the self-employed. In...
What is an unpresented check? An unpresented check is a check written by a company and entered in its records, but the check has not yet cleared the company’s checking account. In other words, the check has not yet...
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...
software may allow you to go into a previous period’s (as well as the current period’s) activity and remove a voided check or change the amount to zero. This will also increase the balance in the Cash account and...
four months earlier and the check has not yet cleared the company’s bank account. Example of Writing Off an Old Outstanding Check On January 22, a company issued a check for $124 for a business expense. As of June 30,...
is helpful if the bank’s customer is traveling in countries where the customer is not known. The letter of credit will allow the customer to purchase goods on credit because the seller is assured of payment. In other...
Is a utility bill an expense? The utility bill for a retailer or for a service company is an expense. Under the accrual basis of accounting, the utility bill is an expense for the period indicated by the meter reading...
). The company will record a December 31 accrual adjusting entry which debits Interest Receivable for $300 and credits Interest Income for $300. The Interest Receivable account balance will be reported on the company’s...
to Cash and a $3,000 credit to the liability account Customer Deposits or Unearned Revenues. With no downpayment or advance payment in December, there is no entry recorded.) The $20,000 contract is not reported as an...
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