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...
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...
What is responsibility accounting? Definition of Responsibility Accounting Responsibility accounting involves the internal accounting and budgeting for each responsibility center within a company. The objective of...
What is the accounting entry to close the sole proprietorship drawing account? Definition of Sole Proprietorship Drawing Account The drawing or withdrawal account for a sole proprietorship is a temporary owner equity’s...
What is the dividend payout ratio? The dividend payout ratio, or simply the payout ratio, is the percentage of a corporation’s earnings that is paid out in the form of cash dividends. The calculation of the dividend...
What are semivariable costs? Definition of Semivariable Costs Semivariable costs are costs or expenses whose behavior is partially fixed and partially variable. That is, part of the total cost does not increase or...
What is an ordinary annuity? Definition of Ordinary Annuity In accounting, an ordinary annuity refers to a series of identical cash amounts with each amount occurring at the end of equal time intervals. Another term for...
How do you reduce the break-even point? Definition of Break-even Point The break-even point is the number of units or amount of revenues needed for the company’s income statement to report zero net income or zero net...
Isn't objectivity violated when estimates are used in bookkeeping and accounting? The use of estimates does not necessarily violate objectivity. If it is not possible to determine the exact amount of an expense and/or...
What are term bonds and serial bonds? Term bonds are bonds which mature or come due on a single date. Serial bonds are bonds which do not mature or come due on a single date. Instead, serial bonds have maturity dates...
What is straight line depreciation? Definition of Straight-Line Depreciation Straight-line depreciation is the most common method of allocating the cost of a plant asset to expense in the accounting periods during which...
What is capex? Definition of Capex Capex is a shortened form of the term capital expenditure or capital expenditures. Capex is often used when referring one or both of the following: Actual amounts that were spent during...
Why are average balance sheet amounts used in calculating the turnover ratios? In the calculation of a turnover ratio, the numerator is an amount from an annual income statement, while the denominator is a balance sheet...
Can I capitalize this year's R&D? Generally, R&D costs cannot be capitalized for U.S. financial statements according to the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 2, Accounting for Research and Development...
What is the difference between bad debt and doubtful debt? Definition of Bad Debt and Doubtful Debt In accounting, the terms bad debt and doubtful debt usually refer to the amounts owed by a company’s customers who...
What is the difference between depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation? Definition of Depreciation Expense Depreciation expense is the amount of depreciation that is reported on the income statement. In other...
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 an early payment discount? Definition of Early Payment Discount An early payment discount is a reduction in the amount on a supplier’s invoice if the customer pays the supplier promptly. The early payment...
What is net realizable value? Definition of Net Realizable Value Net realizable value (NRV) is the cash amount that a company expects to receive. Hence, net realizable value is sometimes referred to as cash realizable...
What is miscellaneous expense? Definition of Miscellaneous Expense In accounting, miscellaneous expense may refer to a general ledger account in which small, infrequent transaction amounts are recorded. The account...
What adjustment is needed when a check that was written in a previous month appears on the current month's bank statement? A check written in any previous month but not appearing on previous bank statements, should have...
Which accounts normally have debit balances? Definition of Debit Balance In accounting, a debit balance refers to a general ledger account balance that is on the left side of the account. This is often illustrated by...
What are reversing entries and why are they used? Definition of Reversing Entries Reversing entries are made on the first day of an accounting period to remove accrual adjusting entries that were made at the end of the...
What is gross margin? Definition of Gross Margin Gross margin is the amount remaining after a retailer or manufacturer subtracts its cost of goods sold from its net sales. In other words, gross margin is the retailer’s...
What is the difference between actual overhead and applied overhead? Definition of Actual Overhead In the context of actual and applied overhead, actual overhead refers to a manufacturer’s indirect manufacturing costs....
What is the full disclosure principle? Definition of Full Disclosure Principle The full disclosure principle requires a company to provide the necessary information so that people who are accustomed to reading financial...
What are accrual adjusting entries? Definition of Accrual Adjusting Entries Accrual adjusting entries or simply accruals are one of three types of adjusting entries which are prepared at the end of an accounting period...
What is a contra revenue account? Definition of Contra Revenue Account A contra revenue account is a revenue account that is expected to have a debit balance (instead of the usual credit balance). In other words, its...
What is the difference between stock dividend and cash dividend? Definition of a Stock Dividend A stock dividend is a dividend consisting of additional shares of stock. Assume that before a corporation declares a stock...
What are gains? Definition of Gains In financial accounting, gains often pertain to some of a company’s transactions which occur outside of the company’s main business activities. Transactions which are outside of a...
What is ROI? Definition of ROI ROI is the acronym for return on investment. Traditionally, ROI related 1) the income statement profit to the 2) the balance sheet investment. A drawback of ROI is that the accounting...
What is opportunity cost? Definition of Opportunity Cost Opportunity cost is the profit that was lost or missed because of some action or failure to take some action. Some refer to opportunity cost as opportunity lost....
What is a debenture? A debenture is an unsecured bond. In other words, a debenture is a bond without a lien on specific assets owned by the issuing corporation. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read...
When are expenses credited? Definition of Expenses Credited Normally, the general ledger accounts for expenses are debited and are expected to have debit balances. The reason they are debited is they cause the normal...
What is the difference between assessed value and appraised value? Definition of Assessed Value Assessed value will likely be the amount that a local or state government has designated for individual properties. This...
What is a financial statement? Definition of Financial Statement Generally, the term financial statement could be referring to: General-purpose, external financial reports that are distributed by a company to people...
In adjusting entries, how do I know which T-accounts to use? We illustrate the common adjusting entries with the use of T-accounts in the Explanation of the Topic Adjusting Entries available for your reading at no...
What is the income statement? Definition of Income Statement The income statement is also known as the statement of operations, profit and loss statement, and statement of earnings. It is one of a company’s main...
How do you calculate the gain or loss when an asset is sold? Definition of Gain or Loss on Sale of an Asset The gain or loss on the sale of an asset used in a business is the difference between 1) the amount of cash that...
What is the difference between paid-in capital and retained earnings? Definition of Paid-in Capital Paid-in capital is one of the major categories of stockholders’ equity. Generally, paid-in capital reports the amount...
Kindly illustrate various depreciation methods. Definition of Depreciation Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the cost of an asset to Depreciation Expenses over the asset’s useful life. If an asset will have...
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