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...
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...
What is the rationale for not reporting plant assets at their liquidation value? I will assume that the plant assets‘ liquidation values are higher than the present carrying values when answering your question. Plant...
What is self-insurance? Self-insurance means no insurance. For example, if a retailer decides to self-insure its buildings, the retailer will not have an insurance policy to pay for losses that may occur to its...
What is the difference between public companies and public sector? Definition of Public Companies Public companies are those businesses owned by individuals (and not by a government). Definition of Publicly-Held...
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 the entry for a loan to an employee? Definition of Loan to Employee A loan to an employee is money advanced by the company to assist the employee. If the employee is expected to repay the loan within one year of...
Why does an inventory error affect two periods? Definition of Inventory Error An inventory error could be the result of any of the following: Omitting some items when physically counting inventory Double counting some...
What is meant by nonoperating revenues and gains? Nonoperating revenues are the amounts earned by a business which are outside of its main or central operations. Nonoperating revenues are also described as incidental or...
What is cash from operating activities? Definition of Cash from Operating Activities Cash from operating activities usually refers to the first section of the statement of cash flows. Cash from operating activities...
What is the annual wage limit? Definition of Annual Wage Limit Annual wage limit is a payroll accounting term that is associated with the Social Security payroll tax. (The annual wage limit is also known as the annual...
Why would a company use double-declining depreciation on its financial statements? Definition of Double-Declining-Balance Depreciation The double-declining-balance method of depreciation is a form of accelerated...
What is gross profit? Definition of Gross Profit Gross profit is defined as net sales minus the cost of goods sold. Gross profit is sometimes referred to as gross margin. (However, gross margin can also mean the gross...
What is the difference between expenses and payments? Definition of Expenses and Payments Under the accrual method of accounting, expenses are costs that have been used up or have been incurred in the process of earning...
What is ERP? Definition of ERP In accounting, ERP is the acronym for enterprise resource planning. ERP could be described as a database software package that supports all of a business’s processes and operations...
What is a contingent liability? Definition of Contingent Liability A contingent liability is a potential liability that may or may not become an actual liability. Whether the contingent liability becomes an actual...
What is a transposition error? Definition of Transposition Error A transposition error occurs when an amount is recorded incorrectly as the result of switching the positions of two (or more) digits. The switching of the...
What is the cash flow statement? Definition of Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement (officially known as the statement of cash flows) is one of the required financial statements issued by U.S. businesses (and by...
What is the difference between assets and fixed assets? Assets are resources owned by a company as the result of transactions. Examples of assets are cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid insurance, land,...
What is a lease? Definition of a Lease Typically, a lease is a written agreement between an owner of property (land, building, equipment, vehicle, etc.) and a person or business that will use the property for a stated...
What is a creditor? Definition of Creditor A creditor could be a bank, supplier or person that has provided money, goods, or services to a company and expects to be paid at a later date. In other words, the company owes...
What are sales? Definition of Sales In accounting, the term sales refers to the revenues earned when a company sells its goods, products, merchandise, etc. When a company sells a noncurrent asset that had been used in...
What are fixed assets? Definition of Fixed Assets Fixed assets are a company’s tangible, noncurrent assets that are used in its business operations. The word fixed indicates that these assets will not be used up,...
What is the current ratio? Definition of Current Ratio The current ratio is a financial ratio that shows the proportion of a company’s current assets to its current liabilities. The current ratio is often classified as...
What is a noncurrent asset? Definition of Noncurrent Asset A noncurrent asset is an asset that is not expected to turn to cash within one year of date shown on a company’s balance sheet. (This assumes that the company...
Why does a bond's price decrease when interest rates increase? Definition of Bond’s Price A bond’s price is the present value of the following future cash amounts: The cash interest payments that occur every six...
Can a fully depreciated asset be revalued? A fully depreciated asset cannot be revalued because of accounting’s cost principle. Definition of a Fully Depreciated Asset A fully depreciated asset is one that has...
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...
What is a fringe benefit rate? Definition of Fringe Benefit Rate A fringe benefit rate is a percentage that results from dividing the cost of an employee’s fringe benefits by the wages paid to the employee for 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...
How do you calculate the cost of carrying inventory? Definition of Cost of Carrying Inventory The cost of carrying inventory (or cost of holding inventory) is the sum of the following: Cost of money tied up in inventory,...
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...
Is the sales tax on merchandise purchased for resale included in inventory? In our state, sales tax is paid only by the end customer. In other words, a retailer does not pay sales tax on merchandise that is purchased for...
What is FICA? Definition of FICA FICA is the acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act. FICA consists of the U.S. Social Security payroll tax and the Medicare payroll tax. The FICA payroll tax is withheld from...
What is the meaning of pro rata? Pro rata is a Latin term that means in proportion. Pro rata is related to prorate, a term used in cost accounting. To illustrate the term pro rata, let’s assume that a company’s...
What are cost flow assumptions? Definition of Cost Flow Assumptions The term cost flow assumptions refers to the manner in which costs are removed from a company’s inventory and are reported as the cost of goods sold....
What is the difference between stockholder and stakeholder? Definition of Stockholder A stockholder or shareholder is the owner of shares of a corporation’s common or preferred stock. Definition of Stakeholder A...
Is the sales tax paid on merchandise that you will resell an expense? I believe that most states have sales tax exemptions for merchandise purchased for resale. Check with your state’s sales tax department to see if...
Why is an amount in the cash flows from investing activities shown in parenthesis? An amount shown in parenthesis within the investing activities section of the cash flow statement indicates that cash was used to...
What is the effective interest rate for a bond? Definition of Effective Interest Rate of a Bond The effective interest rate of a bond is usually the market interest rate and the bond’s yield-to-maturity (as opposed to...
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