What is cash from operating activities? Definition of Cash from Operating Activities Cash from operating activities usually refers to the first section of the statement of cash flows. Cash from operating activities...
What is cash from operating activities? Definition of Cash from Operating Activities Cash from operating activities usually refers to the first section of the statement of cash flows. Cash from operating activities...
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 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 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 the difference between assets and fixed assets? Assets are resources owned by a company as the result of transactions. Examples of assets are cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid insurance, land,...
Why is income received in advance a liability? Definition of Income Received in Advance Under the accrual method of accounting, when a company receives money from a customer prior to earning it, the company will have to...
What are fixed assets? Definition of Fixed Assets Fixed assets are a company’s tangible, noncurrent assets that are used in its business operations. The word fixed indicates that these assets will not be used up,...
What is the current ratio? Definition of Current Ratio The current ratio is a financial ratio that shows the proportion of a company’s current assets to its current liabilities. The current ratio is often classified as...
If a mortgage payment is due by December 31, but the payment is not made until the following month, should the loan payment be accrued at December 31? The interest portion of the mortgage payment should be accrued as of...
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 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...
How do you calculate the cost of carrying inventory? Definition of Cost of Carrying Inventory The cost of carrying inventory (or cost of holding inventory) is the sum of the following: Cost of money tied up in inventory,...
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...
When do you adjust the amount of prepaid expenses? Definition of Adjusting Prepaid Expenses The balance in the current asset account Prepaid Expenses should be adjusted prior to a company issuing its financial...
In bookkeeping, why are revenues credits? In bookkeeping, revenues are credits because revenues cause owner’s equity or stockholders’ equity to increase. Recall that the accounting equation, Assets = Liabilities +...
What is FICA? Definition of FICA FICA is the acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act. FICA consists of the U.S. Social Security payroll tax and the Medicare payroll tax. The FICA payroll tax is withheld from...
What is the meaning of pro rata? Pro rata is a Latin term that means in proportion. Pro rata is related to prorate, a term used in cost accounting. To illustrate the term pro rata, let’s assume that a company’s...
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...
Why is an amount in the cash flows from investing activities shown in parenthesis? An amount shown in parenthesis within the investing activities section of the cash flow statement indicates that cash was used to...
What causes a reduction in Accumulated Depreciation? Definition of Accumulated Depreciation Accumulated Depreciation is a general ledger contra asset account associated with a company’s property, plant and equipment....
What are sundry expenses? Definition of Sundry Expenses In accounting and bookkeeping, sundry expenses are expenses that are small in amount and rare in occurrence. For these rare and insignificant expenses, a company...
Is it a requirement for a small business to have a CPA? Generally, a small business is not required to have a CPA or certified public accountant. A CPA would be needed if the small business must have its financial...
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 are assets? Definition of Assets In accounting and bookkeeping, a company’s assets can be defined as: Resources or things of value that are owned by a company as the result of company transactions Prepaid expenses...
What is a credit? Definition of a Credit In bookkeeping and accounting, a credit likely refers to the amount entered on the right side of a general ledger account or to the right side of a T-account. A credit could also...
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 trial balance? Definition of a Trial Balance A trial balance is a bookkeeping or accounting report that lists the balances in each of an organization’s general ledger accounts. (Often the accounts with zero...
What is a deposit in transit? Definition of Deposit in Transit A company’s deposit in transit is the currency and customers’ checks that have been received and are rightfully reported as cash on the date received,...
. Which of the following is a contra asset account? Select... Accumulated Depreciation Bond Issue Costs Discount on Bonds Payable J. Smith, Drawing View Coaching The only contra asset in the list is Accumulated...
liability accounts normally have credit balances, a contra liability account is expected to have a debit balance. Discount on Bonds Payable and Bond Issue Costs are contra accounts to the liability account Bonds...
Featured Review
"I currently serve as the CFO for a nonprofit organization, as well as running a small business providing bookkeeping and financial advisory services to small businesses. Prior to this, I worked as the financial controller for a family of companies with consolidated revenues of $85 million. I stumbled across AccountingCoach 10+ years ago and it quickly became my go to for clear and concise explanations. I downloaded different versions of the cheat sheets and tests to utilize when onboarding accounting staff. I upgraded to PRO in order to gain access to the additional material. I still use this site to refresh my memory on some terms or processes. I have not found any other site where I can get straightforward and easy-to-understand answers as quickly and concisely. The forms and templates are an invaluable resource. I recommend AccountingCoach to associates and clients as the go-to site for instruction for their bookkeeping and accounting staff." - LaRay S.
Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials
Read all 2,645 reviewsWe now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping: