Our Explanation of Stockholders' Equity covers the unique terminology for a corporation's paid-in capital, retained earnings, treasury stock, and accumulated other comprehensive income. Included are cash dividends, stock...
Our Explanation of Stockholders' Equity covers the unique terminology for a corporation's paid-in capital, retained earnings, treasury stock, and accumulated other comprehensive income. Included are cash dividends, stock...
Our Explanation of Evaluating Business Investments compares four of the techniques for reviewing potential capital expenditures. You will be introduced to accounting rate of return, payback, net present value, and...
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...
How much do you depreciate an asset and when? Definition of How and When to Depreciate an Asset Depreciation begins when you place an asset in service and it ends when you take an asset out of service or when you have...
Debits and Credits(Quick Test #2) Download PDF After you have answered all 20 questions, click "Grade This Quick Test" at the bottom of the page to view your grade and receive feedback on your answers. Note: Some of the...
Why can a retailer record its purchase of merchandise as a debit to purchases within the cost of goods sold, instead of the asset inventory? Before we explain why companies will record the purchases of merchandise in the...
What is a limitation of the inventory turnover ratio? Definition of Inventory Turnover Ratio The inventory turnover ratio is often calculated by dividing a company’s cost of goods sold for a recent year by the average...
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...
Debits and Credits(Quick Test #3) Download PDF After you have answered all 40 questions, click "Grade This Quick Test" at the bottom of the page to view your grade and receive feedback on your answers. Note: Some of the...
Our Explanation of Bookkeeping provides you with a rich understanding of the recording of transactions. It then discusses the additional steps necessary for preparing accurate financial statements. This is great for...
Our Explanation of Bookkeeping provides you with a rich understanding of the recording of transactions. It then discusses the additional steps necessary for preparing accurate financial statements. This is great for...
Our Explanation of Working Capital and Liquidity provides you with an in-depth look at the components of working capital and the challenges of converting current assets to cash before obligations come due. You will see...
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...
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 meant by overabsorbed? Overabsorbed is usually used in the context of a manufacturer’s production overhead costs. Since manufacturing overhead costs are not directly traceable to products, they need to be...
What is the time value of money? Definition of Time Value of Money The time value of money recognizes that receiving cash today is more valuable than receiving cash in the future. The reason is that the cash received...
What is the difference between gross profit and net profit? Definition of Gross Profit Gross profit is defined as net sales minus the cost of goods sold. Example of Gross Profit Assume that a retailer had gross sales of...
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...
In standard costing, how is the purchase price variance reclassified to arrive at actual cost? Definition of Purchase Price Variance In standard costing, the purchase price variance is the difference between the actual...
What is the meaning of systematic and rational allocation? Definition of Systematic and Rational Allocation Systematic and rational allocation is typically included in the definition of depreciation. In this context, it...
What is the FUTA tax? Definition of FUTA Tax FUTA is the acronym for the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and is associated with a federal payroll or employment tax paid solely by the employer. (This unemployment tax is in...
Why does a company debit Purchases instead of Inventory? Definition of Purchases and Inventory When a company uses the periodic inventory system the amount of the company’s inventory is determined by a physical count...
What is the profit and loss statement? Definition of Profit and Loss Statement The profit and loss statement, or P&L, is a name sometimes used to describe a company’s income statement, statement of income, statement of...
What is annualizing? Definition of Annualizing Annualizing means taking a partial year amount and converting it to a full year amount. We will use several examples to illustrate how this works. Examples of Annualizing A...
What is the accounting journal entry for depreciation? Definition of Journal Entry for Depreciation The journal entry for depreciation is: Debit to the income statement account Depreciation Expense Credit to the balance...
What is a deferred expense? Definition of Deferred Expense A deferred expense refers to a cost that has occurred but it will be reported as an expense in one or more future accounting periods. To accomplish this, the...
What is the difference between a note payable and a bond payable? Definition of Note Payable and Bond Payable For accounting purposes, a note payable and a bond payable have the following similarities: Formal written...
Is the drawing account a capital account? Definition of Drawing Account A sole proprietorship will have a drawing account in which the owner’s withdrawals or draws of cash or other assets are recorded. The amounts of...
Are bonds payable reported as a current liability if they mature in six months? Definition of Bonds Payable Bonds payable are formal, long-term obligations that promise to pay interest every six months and the principal...
What are net incremental cash flows? Net incremental cash flows are the combination of the cash inflows and the cash outflows occurring in the same time period, and between two alternatives. For example, a company could...
What is the periodic inventory system? Definition of Periodic Inventory System The periodic inventory system does not update the general ledger account Inventory when a company purchases goods to be resold. Rather than...
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)....
How do I calculate the after-tax cost of debt? Definition of After-Tax Cost of Debt The after-tax cost of debt is the interest paid on the debt minus the income tax savings as the result of deducting the interest expense...
What is the difference between entries in a general journal versus a general ledger? Definition of General Journal The general journal is described as the book of original entry. Today the general journal is used to...
Why is prepaid insurance a short term asset? Definition of Prepaid Insurance as a Short-term Asset Prepaid insurance is usually a short term or current asset because insurance premiums are rarely billed for periods...
What is long-term debt? Definition of Long-term Debt In accounting, long-term debt generally refers to a company’s loans and other liabilities that will not become due within one year of the balance sheet date. (The...
What does the cost principle mean for a company's income statement? If a company has buildings, equipment and inventory, the cost principle will mean that the amount of depreciation expense and the cost of goods sold...
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 DCF? In accounting, DCF refers to discounted cash flows or to the discounted cash flow techniques such as net present value or internal rate of return. DCF is a preferred method for evaluating capital...
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...
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