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...
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...
How do you amortize goodwill? Definition of Amortize Goodwill Prior to 2001, to amortize goodwill meant to consistently and in uniform increments move the reported amount of the intangible asset goodwill from the balance...
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 difference between an unadjusted trial balance and an adjusted trial balance? Difference between Unadjusted Trial Balance and Adjusted Trial Balance The differences between an unadjusted trial balance and an...
Are undeposited checks reported as cash? Undeposited checks that are not postdated (not dated with a future date) are reported as cash. Accountants define cash as more than just currency and coins. For example,...
How does the aging of accounts receivable determine bad debts expense? Definition of Aging of Accounts Receivable The aging of accounts receivable sorts the amounts that a company is owed (from customers who had...
What are the disclosures for a manufacturer's inventory? A manufacturer should disclose the following categories of inventory: raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, manufacturing supplies, and packaging...
What are accrued liabilities? Definition of Accrued Liabilities Accrued liabilities are usually expenses that have been incurred by a company as of the end of an accounting period, but the amounts have not yet been paid...
How do you account for bond issue costs? Definition of Bond Issue Costs The costs associated with issuing bonds are debited to a contra liability account such as Bond Issue Costs. Over the life of the bonds, the issue...
What is the difference between a deferred expense and a prepaid expense? Definition of Deferred Expense and Prepaid Expense Deferred expense and prepaid expense both refer to a payment that was made, but due to the...
What is a basis point? A basis point is a hundredth (1/100) of a percentage point. Expressed another way, one percentage point is equal to 100 basis points. This means that if an interest rate drops by 1/2 of a...
What does it mean to check the extensions and to foot an invoice? To check the extensions on a purchase invoice means to verify that the number of units of each item multiplied by its unit cost agrees with the total...
Why are accruals needed every month? Reasons for Monthly Accruals Accrual adjusting entries are needed monthly only if a company issues monthly financial statements. Two reasons for the monthly accrual adjusting entries...
What is a debenture? A debenture is an unsecured bond. In other words, a debenture is a bond without a lien on specific assets owned by the issuing corporation. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read...
What is illusory profit? Illusory profit, also called phantom profit, is the difference between 1) the profit reported using historical costs required by US GAAP, and 2) the profit computed using replacement costs....
When do you put parentheses ( ) around a number? Definition of Amounts in Parentheses Parentheses around a number could have a variety of meanings. For example, parentheses could indicate any of the following: A negative...
Where do I record the refund of a registration fee? If the registration fee refers to a fee expense that you had originally paid but the amount is now being refunded to you, I would credit the same expense account that...
Are commissions considered to be revenues or expenses? Definition of Commissions Revenues or Expenses The company or person earning and receiving commissions (such as a percentage of sales) will have commissions revenue....
What is the difference between a differential cost and an incremental cost? Definition of Differential Cost and Incremental Cost I use the terms differential cost and incremental cost to mean the same thing: the...
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...
In a bank reconciliation, what happens to the outstanding checks of the previous month? Definition of Outstanding Checks Outstanding checks are checks written by a company, but the checks have not cleared the bank...
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 items are added to the balance per bank on the bank reconciliation? Bank Reconciliation Adjustments to Bank Balance The items that are added to the balance per bank when doing a bank reconciliation include: Deposits...
What is the difference between a contingent liability and an estimated liability? Definition of a Contingent Liability A contingent liability is a potential liability (and a potential loss or potential expense). For a...
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...
What is the amortization of premium on bonds payable? Definition of Amortization of Premium on Bonds Payable The amortization of the premium on bonds payable is the systematic movement of the amount of premium received...
What does per annum mean? Definition of Per Annum Per annum means yearly or annually. It is a common phrase used to describe an interest rate. Often “per annum” is omitted, as in “I have a 4% mortgage loan.” or...
How does petty cash affect expenses? Definition of Petty Cash Petty cash is a small amount of currency and coins that a company has available to make very small payments instead of requesting and processing a company...
In adjusting entries, how do I know which T-accounts to use? We illustrate the common adjusting entries with the use of T-accounts in the Explanation of the Topic Adjusting Entries available for your reading at no...
What is materiality? Definition of Materiality In accounting, materiality refers to the relative size of an amount. Relatively large amounts are material, while relatively small amounts are not material (or immaterial)....
What is the difference between information and data? I was taught that information is useful data. The point is there are lots of data (plural of datum) everywhere, and most of the data will not be useful to a decision...
What is an annuity in present value calculations? In present value calculations, an annuity is a series of equal cash amounts occurring at equal time intervals. The identical cash amounts are sometimes referred to as...
What causes an unfavorable fixed overhead budget variance? An unfavorable fixed overhead budget variance results when the actual amount spent on fixed manufacturing overhead costs exceeds the budgeted amount. The fixed...
What is the difference between prime costs and conversion costs? Cost Categories of a Manufactured Product Prime costs and conversion costs pertain to the three cost categories of a manufactured product: Direct materials...
What are the advantages of departmentalizing manufacturing overhead costs? The departmentalizing of manufacturing overhead costs allows for better planning and control if the head of each department is held responsible...
What is the coefficient of determination? The coefficient of determination is a statistic which indicates the percentage change in the amount of the dependent variable that is “explained by” the changes in the...
What is the coefficient of correlation? Definition of Coefficient of Correlation In simple linear regression analysis, the coefficient of correlation (or correlation coefficient) is a statistic which indicates an...
What is the dividend yield? The dividend yield is the annual cash dividend per share of common stock divided by the market price of a share of the common stock. Usually, fast growing corporations have a low dividend...
What is yield to maturity? Definition of Yield to Maturity Yield to maturity is the total return that will be earned by someone who purchases a bond and holds it until its maturity date. The yield to maturity might also...
What does overstated mean? Definition of Overstated When an accountant uses the term overstated, it means two things: The reported amount is incorrect, and The reported amount is more than the true or correct amount. In...
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