What is the difference between a land improvement and a leasehold improvement? Definition of Land Improvement A land improvement is a long-term (long-lived) asset resulting from a physical addition to a company’s land....
What is the difference between a land improvement and a leasehold improvement? Definition of Land Improvement A land improvement is a long-term (long-lived) asset resulting from a physical addition to a company’s land....
See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
This term is used in place of retained earnings when the balance in the retained earnings account is negative (a debit balance).
The current price for a commodity or other item to be delivered immediately.
A term meaning behind, such as dividends in arrears, or something occurring at the end of a period, such as the recurring payment in an annuity in arrears.
Goods or services provided instead of money.
An asset’s cost that has been assigned to Depreciation Expense.
The average amount of inventory during a period of time. Since the amount reported in the Inventory account is the ending balance on one specific day, it is necessary to compute an average balance when relating this...
The proportion of products sold. For example, if a car company sells 100,000 low-profit cars and 400,000 medium-profit cars and 500,000 high-profit trucks, it has a sales mix of 10% + 40% + 50%. If the total number of...
A bond (long term note) that can be exchanged by the holder for a specified number of shares of stock in the company. The convertibility feature usually allows for the bond to have a lower interest rate when it is...
An interest rate that is not explicit. For example, if a business lends its majority owner $100,000 at 0% interest, the IRS might determine that a fair interest rate would be 6% and not 0%. The IRS will impute interest...
The party who delivered its goods to another party (consignee). The objective is for consignee to sell the goods for the consignor. Also see consigned goods.
A cost object is often a product or department for which costs are accumulated or measured. For example, a product is the cost object for direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead. The factory maintenance...
The next best benefit foregone. The opportunity lost. Often measured as the contribution margin given up by not doing an activity. For example, if a sole proprietor is foregoing a salary and benefits of $50,000 at...
An asset account used to record amounts given to an employee with the expectation of repayment. For example, if an employee is given money by a company and the money is expected to be repaid or spent for company...
The allocation of the cost of a plant asset to expense in an accelerated manner. This means that the amount of depreciation in the earlier years of an asset’s life is greater than the straight-line amount, but will...
Sometimes used as a heading in place of paid-in capital.
A multi-column listing of the amounts needed to eliminate a balance in a systematic manner over the life of the item. For example, an amortization schedule for a 15-year mortgage loan would show the 180 payments. The...
See old-age, survivor, and disability insurance (OASDI).
The difference between the call price of a bond or preferred stock and its stated or par value.
The term used by manufacturers to indicate that its manufacturing overhead applied or assigned to its output is less than the amount actually incurred.
The ratio of total liabilities to total assets. For example, a company with total assets of $800,000 and total liabilities of $200,000 will have a debt ratio of 0.25 to 1, or 25% ($200,000 divided by $800,000).
A stock split, such as a 2-for-1, means that every stockholder will have twice as many shares as was held previously. Accordingly, the market price per share after the split should be one-half of the market price...
Merchandise that has been shipped by a supplier but the merchandise has not yet reached the customer’s location. Goods in transit that were shipped FOB Shipping Point should be included in the customer’s...
A journal entry made on the first day of a new accounting period to undo the accrual type adjusting entries made prior to the preparation of the financial statements dated one day earlier. Reversing entries allow for an...
See inventory: finished goods.
An accounting year that ends on a date other than December 31. For example, a school district might have a fiscal year of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. A retailer might have a fiscal year consisting of the 52 or 53...
One of the types of donor-imposed temporary restrictions. An example of a purpose restriction is a cash donation with a donor-imposed requirement that the money be used only to purchase a vehicle for one of its programs....
See natural expense classification.
Assigning manufacturing overhead costs to products being manufactured by using a manufacturing overhead rate.
A corporation’s reported net income and earnings per share for a three-month period.
Also referred to as draws. These are a reduction of owner’s equity, but are not a business expense and they do not appear on the sole proprietorship’s income statement.
See not sufficient funds (NSF) check.
The result of subtracting all variable expenses from revenues. It indicates the amount available from sales to cover the fixed expenses and profit.
A check that is not paid by the bank on which it is written (drawn). Often the reason a check is not paid is that the account on which the check was drawn did not have a sufficient balance. In that case the check is...
See next-in, first-out cost flow assumption (NIFO).
In the equation of a straight line, y = a + bx, ‘bx’ is the total variable cost resulting from the variable cost rate ‘b’ multiplied times the quantity ‘x’.
What are consolidated financial statements? Definition of Consolidated Financial Statements Consolidated financial statements are financial statements for a group of separate legal entities that are controlled by one...
What is EBITDA? EBITDA is the acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Take our Financial Ratios Exam. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read Must-Watch Video Learn How...
An employee’s pretax compensation that is based on annual or monthly amounts rather than an hourly rate. Management employees are usually paid salaries. To learn more, see Explanation of Payroll Accounting.
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