What is a suspense account? Definition of Suspense Account A suspense account is a general ledger account in which amounts are temporarily recorded. The suspense account is used because the appropriate general ledger...
What is a suspense account? Definition of Suspense Account A suspense account is a general ledger account in which amounts are temporarily recorded. The suspense account is used because the appropriate general ledger...
What does it mean to amortize the premium, discount, and issue costs on bonds payable? Definition of Amortize Premium, Discount, and Issue Costs With regards to bonds payable, the term amortize means to systematically...
income statement and balance sheet.] The cash from operating activities almost always begins with the company’s accrual accounting net income or net loss for the accounting period. The net income or net loss amount is...
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...
What is a compilation? Definition of Compilation A compilation refers to a company’s financial statements that have been prepared or compiled by an outside accountant. A compilation is usually part of an accounting...
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...
What is COS? Definition of COS In accounting, the acronym COS could indicate either cost of sales or cost of services. The income statement of a manufacturer or a retailer might use the term cost of sales or it might use...
What is the meaning of arrears? In accounting we use the word arrears in at least two ways. One use involves the omitted dividends on cumulative preferred stock. For example, if a corporation has cumulative preferred...
What is an asset's useful life? Definition of Asset’s Useful Life An asset’s useful life is the estimated period of time (or total amount of activity) that a long-lived asset will be economically feasible for use in...
How is a voucher used in accounts payable? Definition of Voucher A voucher is often a prenumbered form used in the accounts payable department to standardize and enhance a company’s internal control over payments to...
What is a comparative income statement? A comparative income statement will consist of two or three columns of amounts appearing to the right of the account titles or descriptions. For example, the income statement for...
What is a calendar year? Definition of Calendar Year A calendar year is the 12 consecutive months from January through December. In other words, it is the 365 days (366 days in a leap year) beginning on January 1 and...
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...
Is depreciation expense an administrative expense? Definition of Depreciation Expense Depreciation expense is the systematic allocation of a depreciable asset’s cost to the accounting periods in which the asset is...
What is the annual wage limit? Definition of Annual Wage Limit Annual wage limit is a payroll accounting term that is associated with the Social Security payroll tax. (The annual wage limit is also known as the annual...
What is the cost of capital? Definition of Cost of Capital The cost of capital is the weighted-average, after-tax cost of a corporation’s long-term debt, preferred stock (if any), and the stockholders’ equity...
Why are bonds payable less costly than common stock? Bonds payable are less costly than common stock because the bonds issued by a corporation contain a formal contract to pay the investor a fixed amount of interest...
What is a cash discount? Definition of Cash Discount A cash discount is a deduction allowed by some sellers of goods or by some providers of services to motivate customers to pay within an earlier specified time. The...
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 a purchase discount? Definition of Purchase Discount A purchase discount is a deduction that a company may receive if the supplier offers it and the company pays the supplier’s invoice within a specified period...
How are period costs reported in the financial statements? Under the accrual method of accounting, period costs such as selling, general and administrative expenses are reported on the income statement in the accounting...
What is the purpose of assigning accounts receivable? The purpose of assigning accounts receivable is to provide collateral in order to obtain a loan. To illustrate, let’s assume that a corporation receives a special...
What is work-in-process inventory (WIP)? Definition of Work-in-process Inventory Work-in-process (WIP) inventory pertains to the goods for which the manufacturing has begun, but not yet completed. In other words, WIP is...
How can I learn bookkeeping at a low cost? You can use the Internet to learn bookkeeping at little or no cost. For example, at no cost you can read clear explanations of debits and credits, adjusting entries, financial...
What is the advantage of issuing bonds instead of stock? Definition of Bonds Bonds payable are a form of long-term debt, which include a formal agreement to pay interest semiannually and the principal amount at maturity....
Are sales discounts reported as an expense? Definition of Sales Discounts Sales discounts are also known as cash discounts or early payment discounts. Sales discounts (along with sales returns and allowances) are...
How do you record an owner's money that is used to start a company? Recording Money to Start a Sole Proprietorship If Amy Ott begins a sole proprietorship by putting money into her business, the sole proprietorship will...
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 the entry when a company lends money to an employee? Definition of Employee Loan When a company lends money to one of its employees, the company is reducing its Cash and increasing another asset such as Other...
What does drop ship mean? One example of drop ship is a manufacturer shipping goods directly to one of its customers’ customer (instead of delivering the goods to the customer that placed the order with the...
What is principles of accounting? Three meanings come to mind when you ask about principles of accounting… Principles of accounting was often the title of the introductory course in accounting. It was also common for...
What is a reclassification? Definition of Reclassification In accounting, the term reclassification is often used to describe moving an amount from one general ledger account to another. Examples of Reclassification...
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...
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 days' sales in inventory ratio? Definition of Days’ Sales in Inventory The financial ratio days’ sales in inventory tells you the number of days it took a company to sell its inventory during a recent...
How do I write off old outstanding checks? Definition of an Old Outstanding Check We will assume that an outstanding check has appeared on the outstanding check list that is part of the company’s bank reconciliation...
Is contribution margin the same as operating income? Definition of Contribution Margin Contribution margin is defined as revenues minus the variable costs and variable expenses. Example of Contribution Margin Assume that...
What is the difference between expenses and payments? Definition of Expenses and Payments Under the accrual method of accounting, expenses are costs that have been used up or have been incurred in the process of earning...
What is the entry when merchandise has been received but not the vendor's invoice? Definition of Merchandise Received but Not Vendor’s Invoice If a retailer receives merchandise from one of its vendors, but has not...
What is the meaning of systematic and rational allocation? Definition of Systematic and Rational Allocation Systematic and rational allocation is typically included in the definition of depreciation. In this context, it...
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