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What is the cost principle? Definition of Cost Principle The cost principle is one of the basic underlying guidelines in accounting. It is also known as the historical cost principle. The cost principle requires that...

What entry is made when selling a fixed asset? Defining the Entries When Selling a Fixed Asset When a fixed asset or plant asset is sold, there are several things that must take place: The fixed asset’s depreciation...

What are the reasons for high inventory days? Definition of Inventory Days I assume that inventory days is referring to the days’ sales in inventory. If so, then inventory days is also related to the inventory turnover...

What is leverage? Definition of Leverage In accounting and finance, leverage is the use of a significant amount of debt to purchase an asset, operate a company, acquire another company, etc. Since the cost of debt is...

What is financial reporting? Definition of Financial Reporting Financial reporting includes all of a company’s communication of financial information to people outside of the company. Examples of Financial Reporting...

What is liquidity? Definition of Liquidity Liquidity is a company’s ability to convert its assets to cash in order to pay its liabilities when they are due. Current Assets Generally, the assets that are expected to...

Occurring twice per month. For example, if salaried personnel are paid on the 15th and the last day of the month, we would say they are paid semimonthly. People paid semimonthly will receive 24 paychecks during a year....

Weekly Income Statement When I became a director of a meatpacking company, I was concerned about the thin profit margins, the corporation’s lack of working capital, and my inexperience in the industry. The company...

In standard costing, the quantity variance could be the direct materials’ usage variance or the direct labor’s efficiency variance. The quantity variance is the difference between the quantity of inputs that...

Commitments are items that are not reported as liabilities as of the balance sheet date. Some of these items are reported in the notes to the financial statements. Examples include noncancelable contracts to rent space...

The reduction of an asset’s carrying amount. For example, we often reduce or write down inventory from its cost to its net realizable value when the net realizable value is lower.

Using debt (such as loans and bonds) to acquire more assets than would be possible by using only owners’ funds. Also referred to as trading on equity.

The accounting guideline requiring amounts in the accounts and on the financial statements to be the actual cost rather than the current value. Accountants can show an amount less than cost due to conservatism, but...

A word that means to add column totals across to see if the sum will equal the grand total. In the table below each of the columns A through Total was “footed” (added or summed) in order to get each...

The moving average cost of inventory items under the perpetual inventory system. A new average cost per unit is developed after each purchase of an inventory item. To learn more, see Explanation of Inventory and Cost of...

The amounts withheld for employees’ checks for Social Security tax, Medicare tax, federal income tax, state income tax, and voluntary deductions such as United Way, union dues, 401(k) contributions,...

The actual cost of direct materials, the actual cost of direct labor, and manufacturing overhead applied by using a predetermined annual overhead rate.

A target rate. For example, companies may decide to invest only in projects that generate an internal rate of return that is in excess of 12%. The 12% figure becomes the hurdle rate.

Costs that have both a fixed and variable component. For example, the cost of operating an automobile includes some fixed costs that do not change with the number of miles driven (e.g., operating license, insurance,...

The long term asset category of a classified balance sheet which appears immediately after the current assets. Listed in this category would be a bond sinking fund, funds held for construction, the cash surrender value...

An employee’s pretax compensation based on hours worked times an hourly rate of pay. Production workers and nonmanagement employees are usually paid wages. To learn more, see Explanation of Payroll Accounting.

A structured market for trading stocks and bonds such as the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. Capital market can also include less structured markets such as private placements.

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....

Cost that is considered to be part of the cost of merchandise. For a retailer, the inventoriable cost is the cost from the supplier plus all costs necessary to get the item into inventory and ready for sale, e.g....

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