What is obsolete inventory? Definition of Obsolete Inventory Obsolete inventory refers to products that a company had purchased or produced which cannot be sold. The obsolete items may be the result of one or more of the...
What is obsolete inventory? Definition of Obsolete Inventory Obsolete inventory refers to products that a company had purchased or produced which cannot be sold. The obsolete items may be the result of one or more of the...
How do you record the sale of land? Definition of Sale of Land Assume that a retailer sells land that it had been holding for a future store. The retailer must remove the cost of the land from its general ledger asset...
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...
What is a compilation? Definition of Compilation A compilation refers to a company’s financial statements that have been prepared or compiled by an outside accountant. A compilation is usually part of an accounting...
What is a comparative income statement? A comparative income statement will consist of two or three columns of amounts appearing to the right of the account titles or descriptions. For example, the income statement for...
on the balance sheet as a contra liability account along with Bonds Payable in the long-term liability section.) Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read Must-Watch Video Learn How to Advance Your Accounting...
Is the sales tax paid on merchandise that you will resell an expense? I believe that most states have sales tax exemptions for merchandise purchased for resale. Check with your state’s sales tax department to see if...
in the retained earnings, which is part of stockholders’ equity. A net loss will cause a decrease in retained earnings and stockholders’ equity. A sole proprietorship’s net income will cause an increase in the...
What is straight line depreciation? Definition of Straight-Line Depreciation Straight-line depreciation is the most common method of allocating the cost of a plant asset to expense in the accounting periods during which...
Is it acceptable for companies to use two methods of depreciation? Definition of Depreciation Methods There are various methods of depreciating assets that are used in a business. It is acceptable and common for...
When should costs be expensed and when should costs be capitalized? Definition of Costs In the context of the question, costs are the amounts paid in exchange for materials, products, or services. The costs could be:...
What is not sufficient funds? Definition of Not Sufficient Funds Not sufficient funds or NSF or insufficient funds is a term to describe a check that has been returned by the bank because the balance in the checking...
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…...
What is a/c? Definition of a/c In accounting, a/c is the abbreviation for account. Example of a/c An accountant might leave the following note for a subordinate: “Please review the balance in the...
How do you record a check that clears the bank months after it was voided? Since you had voided the check months earlier, your general ledger no longer reflects 1) the original credit to the cash account, and 2) the...
How should a mortgage loan payable be reported on a classified balance sheet? Definition of a Mortgage Loan Payable The account Mortgage Loan Payable contains the principal amount owed on a mortgage loan. (Any interest...
What is accelerated depreciation? Definition of Accelerated Depreciation Accelerated depreciation is the allocation of a plant asset‘s cost at a faster rate than straight-line depreciation. Compared to straight-line...
What is an impairment? Definition of Impairment The term impairment is associated with an asset currently having a market value that is less than the asset’s book value . A test is done to determine whether the...
are the state/local government’s revenues. The seller is merely acting as an agent that is required to collect and remit the sales taxes to the government. As a result, the sales taxes included in a company’s...
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 the cost of sales? Definition of Cost of Sales Cost of sales is often a line shown on a manufacturer’s or retailer’s income statement instead of cost of goods sold. The cost of sales for a manufacturer is the...
How do you calculate the cost of goods sold for a retailer? Formula for Calculating a Retailer’s Cost of Goods Sold A retailer’s cost of goods sold is: The cost of the retailer’s beginning inventory Plus the cost...
Why would a company use double-declining depreciation on its financial statements? Definition of Double-Declining-Balance Depreciation The double-declining-balance method of depreciation is a form of accelerated...
What is an asset's useful life? Definition of Asset’s Useful Life An asset’s useful life is the estimated period of time (or total amount of activity) that a long-lived asset will be economically feasible for use in...
What is the difference between product costs and period costs? A manufacturer’s product costs are the direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead used in making its products. (Manufacturing overhead is...
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...
How do you record the sales tax on the purchase of an asset? Accountants define the cost of an asset as all of the costs that are necessary to obtain the asset and to get it ready for use. If your state does not allow an...
Why isn't a corporation's dividend shown on its income statement? Definition of Dividend A dividend paid by a corporation on its common stock is a distribution of the corporation’s net income (earnings, profits). The...
Are utility bills an expense or a liability? Definition of Utility Bills Utility bills are invoices received by a company for the natural gas, electricity, water, and sewer charges that the company used during a previous...
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...
Why does a cost system developed for inventory valuation distort product cost information? The cost system for inventory valuation may have been developed to provide a reasonable total cost of inventory and a reasonable...
What is inventory valuation? Definition of Inventory Valuation In the U.S., inventory valuation is the dollar amount associated with the items remaining in a company’s inventory. Generally speaking, the amount is the...
Is depreciation expense an administrative expense? Definition of Depreciation Expense Depreciation expense is the systematic allocation of a depreciable asset’s cost to the accounting periods in which the asset is...
Why isn't a key employee reported as an asset on the balance sheet? While an employee could be an organization’s most valuable asset, accountants record past transactions that can be measured. Since an employee is not...
What are gross wages? Definition of Gross Wages Gross wages are the amounts earned by employees before the payroll withholding taxes and other deductions are subtracted. Sometimes gross wages is used to describe the...
What is accrued rent? Definition of Accrued Rent Accrued rent is the amount of rent that has not yet been paid by the tenant or received by the landlord for a past period of time. [If the tenant always pays the monthly...
What is financial leverage? Definition of Financial Leverage Financial leverage which is also known as leverage or trading on equity, refers to the use of debt to acquire additional assets. The use of financial leverage...
What is Form 10-K? Definition of Form 10-K Form 10-K is a required annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by U.S. corporations whose common stock is publicly traded. It is common for a...
Why is an amount in the cash flows from investing activities shown in parenthesis? An amount shown in parenthesis within the investing activities section of the cash flow statement indicates that cash was used to...
What is a lump sum payment? A lump sum payment is often associated with a single amount paid to acquire a group of items. For instance, a corporation might pay $50,000 for the inventory and equipment of a small...
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