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 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 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...
What is Big 4 Accounting? In accounting, the Big 4 refers to the four largest public accounting and auditing firms: Deloitte PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC Ernst & Young (EY) KPMG These certified public accounting (CPA)...
What are gross sales? Definition of Gross Sales Gross sales are the amounts a company earned from selling its products. The amounts originate from the company’s sales invoices but the total will be adjusted to the...
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 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 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...
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 do you calculate ending inventory? Physically Counting the Items in Inventory One method for calculating the cost of a company’s ending inventory is to 1) physically count the quantity of each of the items in...
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...
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...
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...
I don't understand the conservatism principle. Why do losses get recorded but not gains? Conservatism has to do with uncertainty. When uncertainty exists between two alternatives that appear to be reasonable, the...
What is petty cash? Definition of Petty Cash Petty cash or a petty cash fund is a small amount of money available for paying small expenses without writing a check. Petty Cash is also the title of the 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...
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...
What is a blank endorsement? In the case of a check payable to John Smith (the payee), a blank endorsement would be the signature of John Smith on the back side of the check without any other words above or below his...
What is preferred stock? Definition of Preferred Stock Preferred stock is a type of capital stock issued by some corporations in addition to its common stock. Preferred stock is also known as preference stock. The word...
Which date is used to record a credit card transaction? When a business uses its credit card, the transaction date is the date the credit card is used, not the date that the credit card statement is paid. For example, if...
entered as a debit and at least one account will have an amount entered as a credit. Further, the total amounts entered as debits must be equal to the total amounts entered as credits. Meeting these requirements will...
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...
How can a company have a profit but not have cash? Definition of Profit Under the accrual basis of accounting, profit is the amount of revenues earned minus the amount of expenses incurred. Note that revenues are not...
What does it mean to rotate stock? Definition of Rotating Inventory Stock To rotate stock means to arrange the oldest units in inventory so they are sold before the newer units. The goal is to avoid losses due to getting...
What are consolidated statements of operations? Consolidated statements of operations is the heading appearing on the financial statement also referred to as the income statement. In a small survey of 14 U.S....
Is advertising an asset or an expense? Definition of Advertising Expense Advertising is the amount a company incurs to promote its products, brands, and image via television, radio, magazines, Internet, etc. Since the...
How do you record a deposit on utilities? Definition of Deposit on Utilities A new customer of a public utility (electricity, natural gas, telephone, etc.) may be required to pay a refundable amount known as a utility...
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...
known as an outstanding check. An unpresented check is listed on a bank reconciliation as a subtraction from the bank balance. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read Must-Watch Video Learn How to Advance...
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 the difference between stocks and bonds? Definition of Stocks Stocks, or shares of capital stock, represent an ownership interest in a corporation. Every corporation has common stock. Some corporations issue...
Does the accrual method apply to the purchase of equipment? The accrual method does apply to the purchase of equipment (as well as applying to revenues and expenses). To illustrate, let’s assume that on December 29 a...
Are income taxes affected by accelerated depreciation? Definition of Accelerated Depreciation Accelerated depreciation means the cost of an asset used in a business will be charged to Depreciation Expense at a faster...
Why would a business change its chart of accounts? There can be several reasons for a business to change its chart of accounts. One reason for changing the chart of accounts is to better match how the business is...
What is ERP? Definition of ERP In accounting, ERP is the acronym for enterprise resource planning. ERP could be described as a database software package that supports all of a business’s processes and operations...
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...
What is a vendor? Definition of Vendor In the context of accounts payable, a vendor is a person or business that supplies goods or services to the company. Another term for vendor is supplier. The term vendor can also be...
What is cycle counting? Cycle counting refers to physically counting a portion of the inventory items on many days throughout the year instead of counting all of the items on a single day near the end of the year. For...
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 the free cash flow ratio? Definition of Free Cash Flow Free cash flow for a year is an amount (as opposed to a ratio or percentage) usually defined as: net cash provided by operating activities for the year minus...
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