What is an outlier? In cost accounting, an outlier could be a cost or its related level of activity that is out of line with other observations. An outlier can be detected by plotting each observation’s cost and...
What is an outlier? In cost accounting, an outlier could be a cost or its related level of activity that is out of line with other observations. An outlier can be detected by plotting each observation’s cost and...
The principle that requires a company to match expenses with related revenues in order to report a company’s profitability during a specified time interval. Ideally, the matching is based on a cause and effect...
A technique used to determine the variable rate (slope of a total cost line) of an independent variable and the fixed amount by using just two points: the highest point and the lowest point. For example, if at the...
What is the difference between expense and loss? Definition of Expense An expense is a cost that a company incurs or uses up when it earns revenues. Examples of Expenses A few examples of the many expenses that a company...
How do you report a write-down in inventory? Definition of Write-down in Inventory Under FIFO and average cost methods, when the net realizable value of inventory is less than the cost of the inventory, there needs to be...
of the monetary unit assumption, accountants at a U.S. corporation do not hesitate to add the cost of a parcel of land purchased in 2024 to the cost of another parcel of land that had been purchased in 2004. (See...
as the asset Propane Inventory. As the propane is sold, the dealer will reduce Propane Inventory for the cost of the propane sold and will increase the expense Cost of Goods Sold. Example 3. A manufacturer uses propane...
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...
is $400,000 and is expected to process 50,000 identical units of product. Some companies will develop standard costs for controlling its operations. For example, the standard cost of processing all identical units in...
How can I determine the inventory methods used by other companies in my industry? Definition of Inventory Methods Inventory methods refers to the order or manner in which a company moves its actual costs out of the...
in a general ledger intangible asset account. If a company designs and registers its trademark, the amount recorded is limited to its cost. Costs incurred to defend a trademark are also recorded in the trademark...
of inventory so that it can meet the fluctuating demand of its customers, avoid disruptions in production, and minimize holding costs. Since the costs of the items purchased or produced are likely to change (especially...
What is the effect on financial ratios when using LIFO instead of FIFO? Definition of Effect of LIFO Instead of FIFO During periods of significantly increasing costs, the LIFO cost flow assumption instead of the FIFO...
and the depreciation expense begins. This expense will reduce the company’s profits (net income, earnings). There may also be some additional revenues and costs, and perhaps cost savings, that will also affect 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...
What is the difference between gross margin and contribution margin? Definition of Gross Margin Some use the term gross margin to mean the same as gross profit, which is: net sales minus the cost of goods sold. Others...
between the asset amounts reported on the balance sheet minus the liability amounts. Next, the accountant’s cost principle requires that only the cost of items purchased can be reported as an asset. This means that...
costs, burden, indirect manufacturing costs, and indirect product costs. Since manufacturing overhead is an indirect product cost, it needs to be allocated or assigned to the products manufactured and will cling to the...
What is a fully depreciated asset? Definition of Fully Depreciated Asset A fully depreciated asset is a plant asset or fixed asset where the asset’s book value is equal to its estimated salvage value. In other words,...
Quiz for this topic. For more insight regarding a specific question, use the search box at the top of the page. 1. When an asset has the same amount of depreciation expense each full year, it is being depreciated under...
the balance sheet report the current value of an asset. True Wrong. The purpose of depreciation is to match the cost of the asset to revenues derived from using the asset or to the periods benefiting from the asset. The...
Can absorption costing cause an increase in net income? Definition of Absorption Costing Absorption costing is a cost accounting method (required by US GAAP) in which a manufacturer must assign fixed manufacturing...
to prepare its external financial statements. Example of Materials Usage Variance Even though a company uses a standard cost system in its accounting, the company’s external financial statements must comply with the...
in the accounting period in which it expires or is used up. If the future benefit of a cost cannot be determined, it should be charged to expense immediately. Examples of the Matching Principle To illustrate the...
the standard quantity of materials. The materials usage variance is favorable when the actual quantity of materials used was less than the standard quantity. In the U.S. the materials usage cost variance is expressed in...
The shipping cost to be paid by the buyer of merchandise purchased when the terms are FOB shipping point. Freight-in is considered to be part of the cost of the merchandise and should be included in inventory if the...
A long-term asset account that reports the cost of real property exclusive of the cost of any constructed assets on the property. Land usually appears as the first item under the balance sheet heading of Property, Plant...
In standard costing the difference between the actual cost and the standard cost of direct materials or direct labor. The price variance of direct labor is usually referred to as the labor rate variance.
To include in the cost of an asset. For example, the interest incurred by a company when it constructs its own building is added to the cost of the building’s components. This is referred to as capitalizing the...
How do you account for the rebate on an automobile? The rebate on the purchase of an automobile should be recorded as a reduction of the automobile’s cost. The lower automobile cost will result in lower depreciation...
This is a long term asset account that accumulates the cost of a project that has not yet been placed into service. When the project is finished and placed into the service, the cost is removed from this account and is...
A cost flow assumption where the last (recent) costs are assumed to flow out of the asset account first. This means the first (oldest) costs remain on hand. To learn more, see Explanation of Inventory and Cost of Goods...
Generally, this rule requires that the cost flow assumption used for tax purposes be the same cost flow assumption used for the financial statements. Consult a tax professional about this and other tax matters.
The multiplication of a quantity times its cost. For example, if 100 items are in inventory at a cost of $3.46 each, the inventory extension is $346.
The symbol that represents the total cost in the equation of the cost line y = a + bx.
An asset having accumulated depreciation equal to its depreciable cost (cost minus estimated salvage value). The use of an asset after it is fully depreciated will mean no depreciation expense for those accounting...
In activity-based costing this refers to the allocation of the cost of activities (determined by stage 1 allocations) to the cost objects such as products or services.
Buildings is a noncurrent or long-term asset account which shows the cost of a building (excluding the cost of the land). Buildings will be depreciated over their useful lives by debiting the income statement account...
A weighted average cost used with the periodic inventory system. To learn more, see Explanation of Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold.
A cost flow assumption where the first (oldest) costs are assumed to flow out first. This means the latest (recent) costs remain on hand. To learn more, see Explanation of Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold.
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