How do I calculate the amount of sales tax that is included in total receipts? Sales Tax Calculation To calculate the sales tax that is included in a company’s receipts, divide the total amount received (for the items...
How do I calculate the amount of sales tax that is included in total receipts? Sales Tax Calculation To calculate the sales tax that is included in a company’s receipts, divide the total amount received (for the items...
What is meant by owner's draws? Definition of Owner’s Draws Owner’s draws are withdrawals of a sole proprietorship’s cash or other assets made by the owner for the owner’s personal use. The account in which the...
What are payroll withholding taxes? Definition of Payroll Withholding Taxes In the U.S. payroll withholding taxes are the taxes that an employer is required to deduct from its employees’ gross wages, salaries, bonuses,...
What is inflation accounting? In the U.S., inflation accounting has resulted in optional supplementary disclosures on the effects of 1) general inflation, and 2) changes in the prices of specific types of assets. In...
At what point are revenues considered to be earned? Revenues, which are derived from an entity’s main activities such as the sale of merchandise or the performance of service, are considered to be earned when the...
What is a liability? Definition of Liability A liability is an obligation arising from a past business event. It is reported on a company’s balance sheet. Liabilities are also part of the basic accounting equation:...
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 operating income? Definition of Operating Income Operating income is defined as a corporation’s operating revenues minus its operating expenses. Operating income will be shown as a subtotal on many...
What are sales taxes? In the United States, most of its 50 States assess a sales tax, which is a tax on sales to the end user. For example, in the state of Wisconsin a retailer must collect a 5% sales tax and perhaps...
Is the cost of goods sold an expense? Why the Cost of Goods Sold is an Expense We often think of expenses as salaries, advertising, rent, commissions, interest, and so on. However, the cost of goods sold is also an...
What are the notes to the financial statements? Definition of Notes to Financial Statements The notes to the financial statements are a required, integral part of a company’s external financial statements. They are...
Why are assets and expenses increased with a debit? Definition of Debit In accounting the term debit indicates the left side of a general ledger account or the left side of a T-account. (The right side of an account or a...
What is a purchase return? Definition of Purchase Return A purchase return occurs when a buyer returns merchandise that it had purchased from a supplier. Since the return of purchased merchandise is time consuming and...
What is the days' sales in accounts receivable ratio? Definition of Days’ Sales in Accounts Receivable The days’ sales in accounts receivable ratio (also known as the average collection period) tells you the number...
Will every transaction affect an income statement account and a balance sheet account? Definition of Income Statement and Balance Sheet Accounts A company’s general ledger accounts are arranged into two categories...
Where does the interest paid on bank loans get reported on the statement of cash flows. Definition of Interest on Bank Loans The interest on bank loans is usually an expense of the accounting period in which the interest...
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 the difference in salaries between a bookkeeper and an accountant? I estimate that a bookkeeper’s salary will be less than half of an accountant’s salary. For example, an accountant with a year or two of...
What is the double-entry system? Definition of Double-Entry System The double-entry system of accounting or bookkeeping means that for every business transaction, amounts must be recorded in a minimum of two accounts....
What is revenue? Definition of Revenue Revenue is the amount a company receives from selling goods and/or providing services to its customers and clients. A company’s revenue, which is reported on the first line of its...
Why are some expenses deferred? Definition of Deferred Expenses Under the accrual basis of accounting, an expense is a cost that is used up, has expired, or is directly related to revenues reported on a company’s...
What does it mean to replenish the petty cash fund? Definition of Replenishing Petty Cash Replenishing the petty cash fund means the petty cash custodian requests and receives cash from the company’s regular checking...
What is the cost of goods available? Definition of Cost of Goods Available For non-manufacturing companies using the periodic inventory system in its general ledger, the cost of goods available (COGA, or cost of goods...
What items are added to the balance per bank on the bank reconciliation? Bank Reconciliation Adjustments to Bank Balance The items that are added to the balance per bank when doing a bank reconciliation include: Deposits...
What is a promissory note? Definition of Promissory Note A promissory note is a written promise to pay an amount of money by a specified date (or perhaps on demand). The maker of the promissory note agrees to pay the...
What is a condensed income statement? A condensed income statement is one that summarizes much of the income statement detail into a few captions and amounts. For example, a retailer’s condensed income statement will...
What is a favorable variance? Definition of a Variance In accounting the term variance usually refers to the difference between an actual amount and a planned or budgeted amount. For example, if a company’s budget for...
How do I calculate depreciation using the sum of the years' digits? Definition of the Sum-of-the-Years’-Digits Depreciation The sum-of-the-years’-digits depreciation (SYD depreciation) is one method for calculating...
What is "deficit" appearing in stockholders' equity? Definition of Deficit Within Stockholders’ Equity The term deficit is used within the stockholders’ equity section of a corporation’s balance sheet in place of...
What is Notes Payable? Definition of Notes Payable In accounting, Notes Payable is a general ledger liability account in which a company records the face amounts of the promissory notes that it has issued. The balance in...
What is the difference between expense and loss? Definition of Expense An expense is a cost that a company incurs or uses up when it earns revenues. Examples of Expenses A few examples of the many expenses that a company...
Why is it necessary to allocate a lump sum payment to individual items? It is necessary to allocate a lump sum payment to individual items in order to record a fair portion of the lump sum in each of the proper general...
What is a general ledger? Definition of General Ledger A general ledger is a grouping of perhaps hundreds of accounts that are used to sort and store information from a company’s business transactions. The general...
What is a plant asset? What is a Plant Asset A plant asset is an asset with a useful life of more than one year that is used in producing revenues in a business’s operations. Plant assets are also known as fixed...
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...
Where is the discount on the purchase of office furniture recorded? Definition of Discount on Purchase of Office Furniture The discount on the purchase of office furniture that will be used by a company (as opposed to...
How can a company with a net loss show a positive cash flow? Definition of Net Loss A net loss occurs when a company’s revenues and gains are less than its operating expenses, other expenses and losses. The net loss or...
What is the accrual basis of accounting? Definition of Accrual Basis of Accounting Under the accrual basis of accounting (or accrual method of accounting), revenues are reported on the income statement when they are...
Are utility bills an expense or a liability? Definition of Utility Bills Utility bills are invoices received by a company for the natural gas, electricity, water, and sewer charges that the company used during a previous...
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...
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