What is the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts? Definition of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is a balance sheet contra asset account that reduces the reported amount of accounts...
What is the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts? Definition of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is a balance sheet contra asset account that reduces the reported amount of accounts...
What is the purpose of control accounts? Definition of Control Account A control account is a general ledger account containing only summary amounts. The details for each control account will be found in a related (but...
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...
Which accounts are debited in the closing entries? Definition of Closing Entries Closing entries occur at the end of an accounting year to transfer the balances in the temporary accounts to a permanent or real account....
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...
What is the purpose of the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts? Definition of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts or Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts is a general ledger contra account...
accounts: Liability accounts such as Accounts Payable, Notes Payable, Wages Payable, Interest Payable, Income Taxes Payable, Customer Deposits, Deferred Income Taxes, etc. Hence, a credit balance in Accounts Payable...
will not be paying, the company will debit Bad Debts Expense and will credit Allowance for Doubtful Accounts for the estimated amount. (The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is a contra asset account that when presented...
Does paying an account payable affect net income? Definition of Paying Accounts Payable Under the accrual basis of accounting, expenses are recorded when they have occurred, not when they are paid. Therefore, if an...
What is the aging method? Definition of Aging Method The aging method usually refers to the technique for estimating the amount of a company’s accounts receivable that will not be collected. The estimated amount that...
to the next accounting year, a nominal account is also referred to as a temporary account. Examples of Nominal Accounts The nominal accounts are almost always the income statement accounts such as the accounts for...
of the accounts will receive a debit entry and at least one other account will receive a credit entry. Further, the amounts entered as debits must be equal to the amounts entered as credits. You should think of a debit...
, Sales, will collect all of the amounts from the sale of merchandise. Most accounting systems require that every transaction will affect two or more accounts. For example, a cash sale will increase the Cash account and...
What is an accounting period? Definition of Accounting Period An accounting period is the period of time covered by a company’s financial statements. Common accounting periods for external financial statements include...
receivable, net realizable value can also be expressed as the debit balance in the asset account Accounts Receivable minus the credit balance in the contra asset account Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts. In the...
Do variance accounts have an impact on financial statements? Or are they for performance evaluation only? Since the financial statements must reflect the cost principle, both the standard costs and the variances must be...
accounts to a balance sheet account such as a corporation’s Retained Earnings account When recording a reversing entry for a previous accrual adjusting entry involving an expense When recording a deferral adjusting...
in a revenue account. A contra revenue account allows a company to see the original amount sold and to also see the items that reduced the sales to the amount of net sales. Examples of Contra Revenue Accounts Two...
contains all of its asset, liability, owner equity, revenue, expense, gain, and loss accounts. Each account contains the transaction amounts that pertain to the account title. Definition of a Trial Balance A trial...
of $28,000 to Accounts Payable. At the payment date within 10 days: debit of $28,000 to Accounts Payable, credit of $27,720 to Cash, credit of $280 to Purchases Discounts (a contra account to Purchases) Net method....
containing each account’s unadjusted balance, Adjustments containing any adjusting entries, Adjusted Trial Balance containing the combination of the unadjusted balance and any adjustments, Income Statement containing...
Entries The closing entries will transfer all of the year-end balances from the revenue accounts and the expense accounts to a corporation’s retained earnings account or a sole proprietorship’s owner’s equity...
What is the purpose of subsidiary ledgers? Definition of Subsidiary Ledger A subsidiary ledger contains the details to support a general ledger control account. For instance, the subsidiary ledger for accounts receivable...
What is a recurring journal entry? Definition of Recurring Journal Entry A recurring journal entry is a journal entry that is recorded in every accounting period. Some recurring journal entries will involve the same...
What is a contra expense account? Definition of Contra Expense Account A contra expense account is a general ledger expense account that will intentionally have a credit balance (instead of the debit balance that is...
What is the expanded accounting equation? Definition of Expanded Accounting Equation The expanded accounting equation provides more details for the owner’s equity amount shown in the basic accounting equation. The...
What is a contra inventory account? A contra inventory account is a general ledger account with a credit balance. The credit balance in the contra inventory account will be combined with the debit balance in the...
What is the accounting entry when an order is received? There is no accounting entry recorded in a company’s general ledger accounts when an order is received. The reason is that a sale or sales revenues has not yet...
memo for $60 (5 units X $12) and asks GoodCorp to destroy or donate the 5 units. SalesMax will record the $60 credit memo by debiting Sales Returns and Allowances for $60 and crediting Accounts Receivable by $60....
What is a special journal? Definition of a Special Journal A special journal (also known as a specialized journal) is useful in a manual accounting or bookkeeping system to reduce the tedious task of recording both the...
and disposal. net property, plant and equipment. The recorded costs of the tangible noncurrent assets used in the business minus the related accumulated depreciation. accounts receivable, net. The recorded amount of...
to pay at a later date, the company records the sale with a debit to Accounts Receivable and a credit to the revenue account Sales. The Sales account is a temporary account used to keep a tally of the sales made during...
Short-term marketable securities Accounts receivable (net of the allowance for uncollectible accounts) Notice that inventory (which is a significant current asset for retailers and manufacturers) and prepaid expenses...
for Doubtful Debts Accounting textbooks avoid the use of the word “provision” and instead use the following terminology: The contra-asset account associated with accounts receivable will have the account title...
of an account. When an account balance is on the right side of an account, we say the account has a credit balance. A credit entry in an asset account will reduce the account’s usual debit balance. A credit entry in...
, a contingent asset and gain will not be recorded in a general ledger account or reported on the financial statements until they are certain. [This is different from contingent liabilities and contingent losses, which...
in the company’s general ledger accounts. Examples of Journal Entries for Bank Reconciliation Examples of items requiring a journal entry as the result of the bank reconciliation include: Bank service charges which...
during the month, but the transactions had not been recorded in the accounts as of the end of the month To record the expenses, losses, and their related liabilities which were incurred during the month, but the...
What is the procedure for preparing a trial balance? Definition of a Trial Balance A trial balance consists of the following information: The title of each general ledger account that has a balance To the right of the...
of its current liabilities in the calculation of the company’s quick ratio. Examples of Quick Assets Common examples of quick assets include: Cash and cash equivalents Temporary marketable securities Accounts...
Featured Review
"I am currently employed as a commercial analyst in a media agency. I became a PRO user because I needed a self-paced accounting course that had depth, with good explanations and good examples. I do not at all regret this purchase and have even recommended it to a few of my friends. I now understand so many basic concepts that my university courses didn't explain that well, and there are also many complicated concepts that are explained very easily. Hands down, the best course I have ever purchased; and I have taken a lot of courses on other platforms. The course has helped me understand the core of accounting, and then some. I am a good analyst because of this course." - Arjun P.
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: