Do I buy a new machine or use an old one? One technique for deciding whether to buy a new machine or to use an old machine is to look at the future cash flows if you buy a new machine and the future cash flows if you use...
Do I buy a new machine or use an old one? One technique for deciding whether to buy a new machine or to use an old machine is to look at the future cash flows if you buy a new machine and the future cash flows if you use...
What type of expense is the purchase of propane? Technically, the purchase of propane is not an expense. Depending on the business, the propane is an asset until it is used, resold, or included in a product that is sold....
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 accrual method? Definition of Accrual Method The accrual method of accounting reports revenues on the income statement when they are earned even if the customer will pay 30 days later. The accrual method of...
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...
What is an implicit interest rate? Definition of Implicit Interest Rate An implicit interest rate is one that is not stated explicitly. Example of Implicit Interest Rate Assume that I lend you $4,623 and you agree to...
What is notes receivable? Definition of Notes Receivable Notes receivable is an asset of a company, bank or other organization that holds a written promissory note from another party. (The other party will have a note...
What is discount on bonds payable? Definition of Discount on Bonds Payable Discount on bonds payable (or bond discount) occurs when a corporation issues bonds and receives less than the bonds’ face or maturity amount....
What is accounts receivable? Definition of Accounts Receivable Accounts receivable is the amount owed to a company resulting from the company providing goods and/or services on credit. The term trade receivable is also...
What is the difference between the current ratio and the acid test ratio? The difference between the current ratio and the acid test ratio (or quick ratio) mainly involves the current assets inventory and prepaid...
What is the effective interest rate? Definition of Effective Interest Rate The effective interest rate is the true rate of interest earned. It can also mean the market interest rate, the yield to maturity, the discount...
What is the proper accounting for supplies? Definition of Supplies Office supplies are items used to carry out tasks in a company’s departments outside of manufacturing or shipping. Office supplies are likely to...
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...
What is accounts payable? Definition of Accounts Payable Accounts payable involves the amounts owed by a company to its suppliers (vendors) for goods or services the company received on credit. Accounts payable is also...
How do I calculate IRR and NPV? Definition of IRR The internal rate of return (IRR) method or model determines the interest rate that discounts all cash inflows and cash outflows to a net present value of $0. In other...
What is the transaction approach and balance sheet approach to measuring net income? The transaction approach to measuring net income is the traditional bookkeeping and accounting method. That is, individual transactions...
How do you divide the cost of real estate into land and building? Dividing the Cost of Real Estate into Land and Building In accounting, the cost of real estate must be divided into: The cost of land (because land is not...
What is a long-term asset? Definition of Long-term Asset A long-term asset is an asset that is not expected to be converted to cash or be consumed within one year of the date shown in the heading of the balance sheet....
What is present value? Definition of Present Value In accounting, present value refers to the amount after discounting future cash amounts to the present. The present is depicted on a timeline as the point 0, which is...
Is the rental cost of a building considered overhead? Definition of Rent as Overhead The rental cost of a building used in manufacturing is part of manufacturing overhead. Manufacturing overhead is assigned or allocated...
What is a post-closing trial balance? Definition of Post-closing Trial Balance A post-closing trial balance is a trial balance which is prepared after all of the temporary accounts in the general ledger have been closed....
How do you record an asset that was partially financed? Example of Recording an Asset that was Partially Financed Assume that your company purchased a car for $10,000 by paying cash of $4,000 and signing a promissory...
What is a deferred expense? Definition of Deferred Expense A deferred expense refers to a cost that has occurred but it will be reported as an expense in one or more future accounting periods. To accomplish this, the...
What is the statement of comprehensive income? Definition of Statement of Comprehensive Income The statement of comprehensive income is one of the five financial statements required in a complete set of financial...
What is a fixed budget? Definition of Fixed Budget A fixed budget is a budget that does not change or flex for increases or decreases in volume. (“Volume” could be sales, units produced, or some other activity.) A...
What is a learning curve? Definition of Learning Curve A common learning curve shows that the cumulative average time to complete a manual task (in which learning is involved) will decrease 20% whenever the cumulative...
What is EOQ? Definition of EOQ EOQ is the acronym for economic order quantity. The economic order quantity is the optimum quantity of an item to be purchased at one time in order to minimize the combined annual costs of...
In least squares regression, what do y and a represent? Here are the meanings of the components or symbols used in the least squares equation of y = a + bx: y is the dependent variable, such as the estimated or expected...
Why would Prepaid Insurance have a credit balance? Definition of Prepaid Insurance Generally, Prepaid Insurance is a current asset account that has a debit balance. The debit balance indicates the amount that remains...
What is the purpose of control accounts? Definition of Control Account A control account is a general ledger account containing only summary amounts. The details for each control account will be found in a related (but...
What is a recurring journal entry? Definition of Recurring Journal Entry A recurring journal entry is a journal entry that is recorded in every accounting period. Some recurring journal entries will involve the same...
Is rent expense a period cost or a product cost? Definition of Rent Expense Rent expense is often a monthly amount paid by a company for use of a building. Typically, the rent is due on the first day of every month that...
What is the accounts receivable collection period? Definition of Accounts Receivable Collection Period The accounts receivable collection period is similar to the days sales outstanding or the days sales in accounts...
What is cumulative preferred stock? Definition of Cumulative Preferred Stock Cumulative preferred stock is a type of preferred stock for which any omitted dividends must be paid before the corporation is allowed to pay a...
What does stepped cost mean? Stepped cost refers to the behavior of the total cost of an activity at various levels of the activity. When a stepped cost is plotted on a graph (with the total cost represented by the...
When will a transaction affect only one side of the accounting equation? Only one side of the accounting equation will be affected when one asset is used to acquire another asset or to replace another asset, when one...
What are bonds payable? Definition of Bonds Payable Bonds payable are a form of long term debt usually issued by corporations, hospitals, and governments. The issuer of bonds makes a formal promise/agreement to pay...
What is meant by overabsorbed? Overabsorbed is usually used in the context of a manufacturer’s production overhead costs. Since manufacturing overhead costs are not directly traceable to products, they need to be...
What is DCF? In accounting, DCF refers to discounted cash flows or to the discounted cash flow techniques such as net present value or internal rate of return. DCF is a preferred method for evaluating capital...
What is premium on bonds payable? Definition of Premium on Bonds Payable Premium on bonds payable (or bond premium) occurs when bonds payable are issued for an amount greater than their face or maturity amount. This is...
Featured Review
"I love, love, love your website, it has helped me to succeed in all the bookkeeping I have done off and on throughout the years. Whenever I had doubts I could easily access the website and find my answers quick and I love the videos. Very educational, accurate and reliable. The lifetime unlimited access was one of the best investments I have ever made a few years ago! Makes learning fun and I would suggest this to others in a heartbeat, business owners, employees won't be disappointed. Even those who do occasional bookkeeping will definitely be satisfied with any membership purchase. Thank you AccountingCoach for all that you have helped me with!!! Amazing site!!" - Brenda L.
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: