What is a journal? Definition of a Journal In accounting and bookkeeping, a journal is a record of financial transactions in order by date. Traditionally, a journal has been defined as the book of original entry. The...
What is a journal? Definition of a Journal In accounting and bookkeeping, a journal is a record of financial transactions in order by date. Traditionally, a journal has been defined as the book of original entry. The...
Should a cash discount be recorded as a reduction to an expense? Yes, a cash discount should be a reduction to an expense. After all, accountants define cost as the cash amount (or cash equivalent amount) at the time of...
What are credit terms? Definition of Credit Terms Credit terms indicate when payment is due for a company’s sales invoice (which the customer will refer to as a purchase invoice). The credit terms also indicate whether...
Under the accrual method of accounting, this account reports the amount of worker compensation insurance expense that pertains to the period indicated in the heading of the income statement, whether or not the company...
Why doesn't AccountingCoach.com classify the financial ratios? We avoided classifying the financial ratios because a financial ratio may overlap several classifications, and there are several different titles for the...
What is a noncurrent asset? Definition of Noncurrent Asset A noncurrent asset is an asset that is not expected to turn to cash within one year of date shown on a company’s balance sheet. (This assumes that the company...
What is capital budgeting? Definition of Capital Budgeting Capital budgeting is a process used by companies for evaluating and ranking potential capital expenditures or investments that are significant in amount. A few...
What is the difference between the terms capitalize and depreciate? Definition of Capitalize In accounting, the term capitalize refers to adding an amount to the balance sheet as an asset (as opposed to immediately...
Where is a contingent liability recorded? Recording a Contingent Liability A potential or contingent liability that is both probable and the amount can be estimated is recorded as 1) an expense or loss on the income...
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 is stock? Definition of Stock In business there are at least common meanings for the term stock: Some people use the word stock to mean inventory. In other words, they mean the goods (products, component parts,...
What is the weakness of traditional cost allocations? Traditional cost allocations are often based on volume such as number of products manufactured, number of direct labor hours, number of production machine hours,...
What is a toxic asset? I would define a toxic asset as an investment whose value has dropped significantly and there is no market in which to sell the asset. To illustrate, let’s assume that at the peak of the real...
What is a deferred asset? Definition of Deferred Asset A deferred asset represents costs that have occurred, but because of certain circumstances the costs will be reported as expenses at a later time. You might consider...
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accounting clerk? I envision a bookkeeper as a person employed by a smaller company and being responsible for recording nearly all of its transactions. Hence, the...
What is disinvestment? In business, disinvestment means to sell off certain assets such as a manufacturing plant, a division or subsidiary, or product line. Disinvestment is sometimes described as the opposite of capital...
What is a bill payable? Definition of Bill Payable A bill payable is a document which shows the amount owed for goods or services received on credit (meaning not paid at the time that the goods or services were...
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...
What is a depreciable asset? Definition of Depreciable Asset A depreciable asset has the following characteristics: A tangible asset (other than land) Has a useful life of more than a year Is used in the business The...
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...
How do I determine my payroll tax liabilities? Your payroll tax liabilities will include the following: Federal, state, and local income taxes withheld from employees’ wages, salaries, bonuses, etc. but not yet...
Will I be able to pass the CPA Exam after studying the accounting material on AccountingCoach.com? AccountingCoach.com contains introductory accounting material. While you need to master the principles and concepts...
What is the 13-point average for inventory? The 13-point average for inventory for the calendar year 2023 would be the sum of the following: (the inventory amount at December 31, 2022 plus the 12 end-of-the-month amounts...
Adjusting Entries(Quick Test #2) Download PDF After you have answered all 30 questions, click "Grade This Quick Test" at the bottom of the page to view your grade and receive feedback on your answers. Note: Some of the...
Our Explanation of Future Value of a Single Amount will show you the power of compounded interest on a single deposit. You will see how the future value tables can be useful as well as the rule of 72.
Our Explanation of Present Value of an Ordinary Annuity uses the appropriate present value factors for discounting a stream of equal cash amounts occurring at equal time intervals. An important feature is the use of loan...
Our Explanation of Present Value of an Ordinary Annuity uses the appropriate present value factors for discounting a stream of equal cash amounts occurring at equal time intervals. An important feature is the use of loan...
Our Explanation of Activity Based Costing illustrates how manufacturing overhead costs for a product will differ when costs are allocated using only the number of machine hours, as opposed to being allocated using the...
Our Explanation of Future Value of a Single Amount will show you the power of compounded interest on a single deposit. You will see how the future value tables can be useful as well as the rule of 72.
What are the methods for separating mixed costs into fixed and variable? Definition of Mixed Costs Mixed costs are partially a fixed cost and partially a variable cost. Mixed costs are also known as semivariable costs....
Our Explanation of Future Value of a Single Amount will show you the power of compounded interest on a single deposit. You will see how the future value tables can be useful as well as the rule of 72.
What is the high-low method? Definition of High-Low Method The high-low method is a simple technique for determining the variable cost rate and the amount of fixed costs that are part of what’s referred to as a mixed...
Our Explanation of Standard Costing uses an easy-to-relate to example for illustrating a manufacturer's standard costs and variances. Also provided is a chart which indicates each variance, what it tells you, and where...
Our Explanation of Future Value of a Single Amount will show you the power of compounded interest on a single deposit. You will see how the future value tables can be useful as well as the rule of 72.
Our Explanation of Present Value of an Ordinary Annuity uses the appropriate present value factors for discounting a stream of equal cash amounts occurring at equal time intervals. An important feature is the use of loan...
Break-even Point Break-even Point The break-even point is the level of sales that result in a business having a net income of zero. In other words, its revenues will be exactly equal to its expenses. The break-even point...
Debits and Credits(Quick Test #4 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...
What is the discounted value of expected net receipts? Let’s first define expected net receipts. These are future receipts after deducting any related payments. For example, if you are likely to receive $1,200 one year...
What is an incremental cost? Definition of Incremental Cost An incremental cost is the difference in total costs as the result of a change in some activity. Incremental costs are also referred to as the differential...
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...
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