A listing of the accounts available in the accounting system in which to record entries. The chart of accounts consists of balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, stockholders’ equity) and income statement...
A listing of the accounts available in the accounting system in which to record entries. The chart of accounts consists of balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, stockholders’ equity) and income statement...
The activities involved in earning revenues. For example, the purchase or manufacturing of merchandise and the sale of the merchandise including marketing and administration. In the statement of cash flows the operating...
In the 1970’s the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) articulated three objectives of financial reporting. In summary, financial information should (1) be useful to investors and lenders, (2) be helpful in...
What is the difference between receivables and accounts receivable? Definition of Accounts Receivables Accounts receivable are usually current assets that result from selling goods or providing services to customers on...
What are conversion costs? Definition of Conversion Costs Conversion costs is a term used in cost accounting that represents the combination of direct labor costs and manufacturing overhead costs. In other words,...
What is the difference between revenue, income, and gain? Definition of Revenue Revenue is the amount earned from a company’s main operating activities, such as a retailer selling merchandise or a law firm providing...
What is inventory shrinkage? Definition of Inventory Shrinkage Inventory shrinkage is a term to describe the loss of inventory. The shrinkage could be the result of theft, breakage, poor recordkeeping, etc. The term...
Break-even Point (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (34) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) break-even point This is the number of units or the revenues needed by a company in order...
Accounts Receivable and Bad Debts Expense (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (27) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) accounts receivable This current asset represents a right to...
Income Statement (Flashcards) Download Single-Sided PDF Download Double-Sided PDF All Cards (37) Marked Wrong (0) Marked Right (0) income statement (or) statement of earnings (or) statement of operations This financial...
What is the difference between a balance sheet of a nonprofit organization and a for-profit business? Definition of Balance Sheet The balance sheet is one of the main financial statements issued organizations. The...
Why are revenues credited? Why Revenues are Credited Revenues cause owner’s equity to increase. Since the normal balance for owner’s equity is a credit balance, revenues must be recorded as a credit. At the end of...
What is the double-entry system? Definition of Double-Entry System The double-entry system of accounting or bookkeeping means that for every business transaction, amounts must be recorded in a minimum of two accounts....
What is the difference between adjusting entries and correcting entries? Definition of Adjusting Entries Generally, adjusting entries are required at the end of every accounting period so that a company’s financial...
Payroll Accounting (Word Scramble) Download PDF To see each answer, press or click on the blue "Unscramble" button. If you have difficulty answering the following questions, learn more about this topic by reading our...
How do you calculate the payroll accrual? Definition of Payroll Accrual The payroll accrual is the amounts a company owes for work done by employees, but the amounts have not yet been recorded in the company’s general...
Our Explanation of the Balance Sheet provides you with a basic understanding of a corporation's balance sheet (or statement of financial position). You will gain insights regarding the assets, liabilities, and...
A term that describes the steps when processing transactions (analyzing, journalizing, posting, preparing trial balances, adjusting, preparing financial statements) in a manual accounting system. Today many of the steps...
In financial accounting this term refers to the amount of debt excluding interest. Payments on mortgage loans usually require monthly payments of principal and interest.
The term associated with payroll deductions from an employee’s gross wages or gross salary.
A term meaning behind, such as dividends in arrears, or something occurring at the end of a period, such as the recurring payment in an annuity in arrears.
The term that refers to the stock of a corporation which is traded on the stock exchanges (as opposed to stock that is privately held among a few individuals).
A term used to describe checks written by a company that have been received and paid by the bank on which they were drawn or written. The check number and amount will appear on the company’s checking account...
A term to mean the company’s general ledger or accounting records.
A term used in evaluating business investments. It represents the targeted rate that a company needs to earn. It is also referred to as the discount rate, because this rate is used to discount the future cash flows to...
This term is associated with preferred stock that does not allow its holders to receive more than its stated dividend. The nonparticipating feature is typical in preferred stock. To learn more about preferred stock, see...
This term is usually associated with assets that are depreciated. In the month that an asset is acquired or disposed, it is assumed to have occurred in the middle of the month.
A term used in break-even analysis to indicate the amount of sales that are above the break-even point. In other words, the margin of safety is the amount by which a company’s sales could decrease before the...
In cost accounting this term means to allocate, apply, apportion, or spread manufacturing overhead costs to the production output. In terms of accounts receivable, assign means to pledge accounts receivable to a lender...
A Latin term that means in proportion. See prorate.
The accounting term that means an entry will be made on the left side of an account. To learn more about debits and credits, see our Debits and Credits Outline.
This term is often associated with an investment in the bonds issued by another corporation if the bonds are traded on a bond exchange.
A shortened version of the term bank reconciliation or bank statement reconciliation.
This term is used in place of retained earnings when the balance in the retained earnings account is negative (a debit balance).
A term often used when referring to production workers and other workers who are paid with an hourly pay rate. These workers’ compensation is referred to as “wages” (as opposed to salaries).
In financial accounting this term often refers to the accounting guidelines or principles of conservatism and materiality.
A shortened version of the term bank reconciliation or bank statement reconciliation.
A term used when referring to property, plant, and equipment. Fixed assets other than land are depreciated.
Featured Review
"My current position is as Accounting Manager for a construction company. I became a PRO user years ago while struggling through some of my higher-level accounting classes in college, due to some faulty teaching in lower-level courses. I like that the materials on AccountingCoach range from base knowledge all the way up to detailed explanations on fairly complicated subjects. From the start, the subject matter is explained in great detail, and the interactive ways to apply the knowledge are excellent to drill it in. I have benefited from my PRO membership because I have turned the skills I learned between this and school into a career that I love." - Joseph S.
Join PRO or PRO Plus and Get Lifetime Access to Our Premium Materials
Read all 2,645 reviewsWe now offer 10 Certificates of Achievement for Introductory Accounting and Bookkeeping: