What is the difference between revenues and receipts? Definition of Revenues A company’s revenues are amounts it has earned as the result of business activities such as selling merchandise or performing services. Under...
What is the difference between revenues and receipts? Definition of Revenues A company’s revenues are amounts it has earned as the result of business activities such as selling merchandise or performing services. Under...
What are wages payable? Definition of Wages Payable Wages payable refers to the wages that a company’s employees have earned, but have not yet been paid. Under the accrual method of accounting, this amount is likely...
Where is treasury stock reported on the balance sheet? Under the cost method of recording treasury stock, the cost of treasury stock is reported at the end of the Stockholders’ Equity section of the balance sheet....
What are interim financial statements? Definition of Interim Financial Statements Interim financial statements report amounts for time intervals that are shorter than a company’s annual financial statements. The...
What is a noncash expense? Definition of a Noncash Expense A noncash expense is an expense that is reported on the income statement of the current accounting period, but the related cash payment took place in another...
What is the difference between the current ratio and the acid test ratio? The difference between the current ratio and the acid test ratio (or quick ratio) mainly involves the current assets inventory and prepaid...
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 is trading on equity? Definition of Trading on Equity Trading on equity, which is also referred to as financial leverage, occurs when a corporation uses bonds, other debt, and preferred stock to increase its...
Will I be able to pass the CPA Exam after studying the accounting material on AccountingCoach.com? AccountingCoach.com contains introductory accounting material. While you need to master the principles and concepts...
What is an overdraft? Definition of Overdraft An overdraft (also known as a bank overdraft) generally means that the amount of a company’s checks being presented at the bank for payment exceeded the amount on deposit....
What is the bookkeeping equation? Definition of Bookkeeping Equation The bookkeeping equation (or accounting equation) is similar to the structure of the balance sheet: For a sole proprietorship: Assets = Liabilities +...
What is value billing? Value billing is a way of billing a client for services provided. Basically, the amount billed is based on the value of the service (or information) instead of the number of hours spent. The...
What is the debt to total assets ratio? Definition of Debt to Total Assets Ratio The debt to total assets ratio is an indicator of a company’s financial leverage. It tells you the percentage of a company’s total...
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...
Do variance accounts have an impact on financial statements? Or are they for performance evaluation only? Since the financial statements must reflect the cost principle, both the standard costs and the variances must be...
What is the payback reciprocal? The payback reciprocal is a crude estimate of the rate of return for a project or investment. The payback reciprocal is computed by dividing the digit “1” by a project’s payback...
What are accounting principles? Definition of Accounting Principles Accounting principles are the common rules that must be followed when preparing financial statements that are distributed to people outside of the...
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 is absorption costing? Definition of Absorption Costing Absorption costing (also known as full absorption costing) indicates that all of the manufacturing costs have been assigned to (absorbed by) the units of goods...
What does amortization mean? Definition of Amortization In general, the word amortization means to systematically reduce a balance over time. In accounting, amortization is conceptually similar to the depreciation of a...
What is a source document? Definition of Source Document A source document is an original record which contains the detail that supports or substantiates a transaction that will be (or has been) entered in an accounting...
What is a dependent variable? In accounting, a dependent variable is likely to be the total of a mixed cost that will change as the result of several factors. A factor that causes the change in the total cost is referred...
What is the difference between cost and price? Definition of Cost and Price In accounting, the term cost can mean the cash or cash equivalent amount a company paid to acquire an asset or the amount of an expense it...
What is the difference between a ledger and a trial balance? Definition of a Ledger A ledger is often defined as a book of accounts. Today the ledger and its accounts are likely to be an electronic record or file....
What is the accounting entry when an order is received? There is no accounting entry recorded in a company’s general ledger accounts when an order is received. The reason is that a sale or sales revenues has not yet...
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 contribution margin? Definition of Contribution Margin In accounting, contribution margin is defined as: revenues minus variable expenses. The contribution margin can be expressed as an amount and/or as a ratio...
What are nonmanufacturing overhead costs? Definition of Nonmanufacturing Overhead Costs Nonmanufacturing overhead costs are the business expenses that are outside of a company’s manufacturing operations. In other...
What are turnover ratios? Definition of Turnover Ratios In accounting, turnover ratios are the financial ratios in which an annual income statement amount is divided by an average asset amount for the same year....
What is the average collection period? Definition of Average Collection Period The average collection period is the average number of days between 1) the dates that credit sales were made, and 2) the dates that the money...
What are invoice payment terms? Definition of Invoice Payment Terms Invoice payment terms appear as part of the information shown on the invoice (or bill) prepared by a seller of goods or a provider of services....
What is a variable cost? Definition of Variable Cost A variable cost is a constant amount per unit produced or used. Therefore, the total amount of the variable cost will change proportionately with the change in volume...
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...
What is a liability account? Definition of Liability Account A liability account is a general ledger account in which a company records the following which resulted from business transactions: Amounts owed to suppliers...
What is an indirect cost? Definition of Indirect Cost An indirect cost is a cost that is not directly traceable to a cost object (product, department, etc.). Rather, the indirect cost is sometimes referred to as a common...
How do you calculate opportunity costs? Definition of Opportunity Costs Opportunity costs are the profits a company (or person) missed, or the contribution margin that was missed. Opportunity cost might be thought of as...
Should a manufacturer's selling prices be based on costs? A manufacturer’s selling prices should not be based on costs alone. One reason is that the actual cost of each product is not known with precision. At best,...
What is the employer's Social Security tax rate for 2022 and 2023? Employer’s Social Security Payroll Tax for 2022 The employer’s Social Security payroll tax rate for 2022 (January 1 through December 31, 2022) is the...
Why does the fixed cost per unit change? Definition of Fixed Cost per Unit Fixed costs such as rent, salaries, depreciation, etc. generally do not change in total within a reasonable range of volume or activity. On 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...
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