What is the difference between Rent Receivable and Rent Payable? Definition of Rent Receivable Rent Receivable is an asset account in the general ledger of a landlord which reports the amount of rent that has been earned...
What is the difference between Rent Receivable and Rent Payable? Definition of Rent Receivable Rent Receivable is an asset account in the general ledger of a landlord which reports the amount of rent that has been earned...
What is recorded in the Wages and Salaries Expense account? Definition of Wages and Salaries Expense The account Wages and Salaries Expense (or separate accounts such as Wages Expense or Salaries Expense) are used to...
What is the difference between equity financing and debt financing? Definition of Equity Financing Equity financing involves increasing the owner’s equity of a sole proprietorship or increasing the stockholders’...
Why is a negative cash balance reported as a liability? The following will illustrate why a negative cash balance is reported as a liability instead of being reported as a negative asset amount. Company X writes checks...
What is a current liability? Definition of Current Liability A current liability is: An obligation that will be due within one year of the date of the company’s balance sheet, and Will require the use of a current...
What is budgeting? Definition of Budgeting Budgeting is the process of preparing detailed projections of future amounts. Companies often engage in two types of budgeting: Operational budgeting, and Capital budgeting...
What is the proper use of the words lend and borrow? If a company is granted a loan from its bank, the company is borrowing money from its bank, and the bank is lending money to one of its customers. In other words, the...
How do you account for a project under construction? Accounting for a Project Under Construction If a company is constructing a major project such as a building, assembly line, etc., the amounts spent on the project will...
What is the earnings per share (EPS) ratio? Definition of Earnings per Share The earnings per share ratio, or simply earnings per share, or EPS, is a corporation’s 1) net income (or earnings) after tax that is...
What are dividends? In accounting, dividends often refers to the cash dividends that a corporation pays to its stockholders (or shareholders). Dividends are often paid quarterly, but could be paid at other times. For a...
Is AccountingCoach.com based on GAAP or IFRS? The materials presented on AccountingCoach.com are based on U.S. GAAP. Since the accounting materials on AccountingCoach.com are generally introductory concepts, the...
What is the difference between fixed assets and noncurrent assets? Fixed Assets are Part of Noncurrent Assets Fixed assets are one of several categories of noncurrent assets. Fixed assets are usually reported on the...
In accounting, what is the meaning of cr.? In accounting, cr. is the abbreviation for credit. In accounting and in bookkeeping, credit or cr. indicates an entry on the right side of a general ledger account. Credit...
What is the difference between bad debt and doubtful debt? Definition of Bad Debt and Doubtful Debt In accounting, the terms bad debt and doubtful debt usually refer to the amounts owed by a company’s customers who...
What is a deferred credit? A deferred credit could mean money received in advance of it being earned, such as deferred revenue, unearned revenue, or customer advances. A deferred credit could also result from complicated...
What does the term arrears mean in accounting? Definition of Arrears In accounting, the term arrears will be used in the following situations: If a corporation does not declare and pay the dividend on its cumulative...
What is the difference between paid-in capital and retained earnings? Definition of Paid-in Capital Paid-in capital is one of the major categories of stockholders’ equity. Generally, paid-in capital reports the amount...
underlying accounting principles, guidelines and assumptions include the following: the cost principle matching principle full disclosure principle revenue recognition principle industry-specific regulatory rules...
Should an owner's compensation be recorded as an expense or in the Drawing account? If the enterprise is a sole proprietorship, the owner’s compensation should be debited to the Drawing account. If the enterprise is a...
share of a corporation’s common stock. Often the purpose is to allow small investors to purchase 100 shares of the corporation’s stock at a more reasonable total cost. Reverse stock splits such as 1-for-10 (which...
What is the accounts receivable turnover ratio? Definition of Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio The accounts receivable turnover ratio (or receivables turnover ratio) is an important financial ratio that indicates a...
What is the difference between stock dividend and cash dividend? Definition of a Stock Dividend A stock dividend is a dividend consisting of additional shares of stock. Assume that before a corporation declares a stock...
What is interest expense? Definition of Interest Expense Interest expense is the cost of borrowing money during a specified period of time. Interest expense is occurring daily, but the interest is likely to be paid...
What is the definition of capital market? Often, capital market refers to the structured market for trading stocks and bonds. Examples are the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the New...
What is solvency? Definition of Solvency I use the term solvency to mean a company is able to 1) pay its obligations when they come due, and 2) continue in business. Some people look to a company’s working capital to...
What is a classified balance sheet? Definition of Classified Balance Sheet A classified balance sheet arranges the amounts from a company’s balance sheet accounts into a format that is useful for the readers. For...
What is the difference between a debit and a debit balance? Definition of Debit A debit is an entry on the left side of a T-account. A debit entry is used to record assets, expenses, losses, and owner’s draws in their...
What is the debt to equity ratio? Definition of Debt to Equity Ratio The debt to equity ratio or debt-equity ratio is the result of dividing a corporation’s total liabilities by the total amount of stockholders’...
What are byproducts? Byproducts, or by-products, are products with relatively little value that emerge from a common process along with the main products. The main products have significant value and are referred to as...
What is the transaction approach and balance sheet approach to measuring net income? The transaction approach to measuring net income is the traditional bookkeeping and accounting method. That is, individual transactions...
What are the journal entries for a stock split? Definition of a Stock Split A stock split usually increases the number of shares of a corporation’s common stock with the intention of reducing the market price of each...
What type of account is the Dividends account? Definition of Dividends Account When a corporation declares a cash dividend, the amount declared will reduce the amount of the corporation’s retained earnings. Instead of...
If a mortgage payment is due on January 1, should the payment be accrued at December 31? The following answer assumes that the accrual basis of accounting (also known as the accrual method of accounting) is being used…...
Is the reversal of a previous year's accrued expense permanent? Definition of Reversal of Accrued Expense An accrued expense typically requires an accrual adjusting entry recorded at the end of an accounting year (or any...
How should an interest only loan be recorded? Defintion of an Interest Only Loan An interest only loan specifies that only interest payments are required during the life of the loan. No principal payment is required...
What is a comparative balance sheet? Definition of Comparative Balance Sheet A comparative balance sheet typically has two columns of amounts that appear to the right of the account titles or other descriptions such as...
Why is the P&L profit entered on the credit side of the balance sheet? Profit’s Effect on the Balance Sheet The profit or net income belongs to the owner of a sole proprietorship or to the stockholders of a...
What is an early payment discount? Definition of Early Payment Discount An early payment discount is a reduction in the amount on a supplier’s invoice if the customer pays the supplier promptly. The early payment...
How do I start a petty cash fund? Definition of Petty Cash Fund A petty cash fund is a small amount of money available to pay small amounts without requiring the processing of a business check. Example of Starting a...
be: Revenues (sales, service fees) that were earned during the accounting period Expenses (cost of goods sold, salaries, rent, advertising, etc.) that match the revenues being reported or have expired during the...
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