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 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 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 the effect on financial ratios when using LIFO instead of FIFO? Definition of Effect of LIFO Instead of FIFO During periods of significantly increasing costs, the LIFO cost flow assumption instead of the FIFO...
What is the difference between a balance sheet of a nonprofit organization and a for-profit business? Definition of Balance Sheet The balance sheet is one of the main financial statements issued organizations. The...
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...
to Cash and a $3,000 credit to the liability account Customer Deposits or Unearned Revenues. With no downpayment or advance payment in December, there is no entry recorded.) The $20,000 contract is not reported as an...
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...
31 from the bank statement balance as of August 31. The resulting amount is the adjusted balance per bank. Next, look at the general ledger account that is associated with the bank statement. Let’s assume it is...
, the merchant will debit Cash for $105 and will credit Sales for $100 and will credit Sales Tax Payable for $5. Sales Tax Payable is a liability account. When the sales taxes are remitted to the state, the merchant will...
is deferred to the balance sheet account Prepaid Rent (or Prepaid Expenses,) which is a current asset. During the three months of January 1 through March 31 (when the prepaid rent is expiring) the $3,000 prepayment must...
What is inventory? Definition of Inventory Inventory is a very significant current asset for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Inventory serves as a buffer between 1) a company’s sales of goods, and 2) its...
What is EBIT? EBIT is the acronym for earnings before interest and taxes. In other words, EBIT is a corporation’s net income assuming it had no interest expense and no income tax expense. (Since the amount of earnings...
What is a favorable variance? Definition of a Variance In accounting the term variance usually refers to the difference between an actual amount and a planned or budgeted amount. For example, if a company’s budget for...
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...
liability. When a company receives money in advance of earning it, the accounting entry is a debit to the asset Cash for the amount received and a credit to the liability account such as Customer Advances or Unearned...
What is the reorder point? Definition of Reorder Point The reorder point is the quantity of units in inventory at which time an order should be placed to purchase additional units. The reorder point is calculated by...
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...
costs must be reported as Advertising Expense at the time the ads are run. A prepayment of the cost of ads that will air in the future should be recorded in a current asset account such as Prepaid Advertising. When the...
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 annualizing? Definition of Annualizing Annualizing means taking a partial year amount and converting it to a full year amount. We will use several examples to illustrate how this works. Examples of Annualizing A...
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...
How do I record exterior cement work? Is it an asset or an expense? If the cement work was done to repair or maintain existing cement work, then the expenditure should be recorded as an expense. Even if the cost is very...
What is the difference between dividends and interest expense? Definition of Dividends Dividends are a distribution of a corporation’s earnings to its stockholders. Dividends are not an expense of the corporation and...
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 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...
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...
Why isn't a corporation's dividend shown on its income statement? Definition of Dividend A dividend paid by a corporation on its common stock is a distribution of the corporation’s net income (earnings, profits). The...
What is a/c? Definition of a/c In accounting, a/c is the abbreviation for account. Example of a/c An accountant might leave the following note for a subordinate: “Please review the balance in the...
statement account Repairs Expense for $6,000, and credits the balance sheet current liability account Accrued Expenses Payable for $6,000. Examples of other expenses that typically require an accrual adjusting entry...
coverage from December 1 through May 31. Examples of Two Methods for Recording Prepaid Expenses One method for recording a prepaid expense is to record the entire payment in an asset account. For example, assume that on...
What is cost incurred? Definition of Cost Incurred A cost incurred is a cost that a company (or other organization) becomes liable for. Example of Cost Incurred Assume that a retailer begins operations on December 1 and...
What is a defined contribution pension plan? A defined contribution pension plan is one in which the employer contributes an amount into each eligible employee’s account within an established plan. The employee decides...
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...
If inventory is understated at the end of the year, what is the effect on net income? Definition of Inventory is Understated If inventory is understated at the end of the year, it means that the amount of inventory being...
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....
What is depreciation? Definition of Depreciation In accounting, depreciation is the assigning or allocating of the cost of a plant asset (other than land) to expense in the accounting periods that are within the...
What are some examples of investing activities? Definition of Investing Activities Investing activities often refers to the cash flows from investing activities, which is one of the three main sections of the statement...
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...
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