What is the difference between wages and salary? You should be aware that some people use the terms wages and salary interchangeably. I and many others make the following distinction… Definition of Wages Wages are...
What is the difference between wages and salary? You should be aware that some people use the terms wages and salary interchangeably. I and many others make the following distinction… Definition of Wages Wages are...
What is the book value per share of stock? Definition of Book Value per Share of Stock The book value of a corporation is the amount of its stockholders’ equity. Assuming the corporation does not have preferred stock...
What is Construction Work-in-Progress? Definition of Construction Work-in-Progress Construction Work-in-Progress is a noncurrent asset account in which the costs of constructing long-term, fixed assets are recorded. The...
What is the current ratio? Definition of Current Ratio The current ratio is a financial ratio that shows the proportion of a company’s current assets to its current liabilities. The current ratio is often classified as...
What is the difference between a deferred expense and a prepaid expense? Definition of Deferred Expense and Prepaid Expense Deferred expense and prepaid expense both refer to a payment that was made, but due to the...
How do I calculate depreciation using the sum of the years' digits? Definition of the Sum-of-the-Years’-Digits Depreciation The sum-of-the-years’-digits depreciation (SYD depreciation) is one method for calculating...
What is a cash cow? A cash cow is often a profitable product or service that dominates a market and generates far more cash than is needed to maintain its market position. Companies may use the money from the cash cow to...
What is obsolete inventory?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 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...
What is a long-term asset? Definition of Long-term Asset A long-term asset is an asset that is not expected to be converted to cash or be consumed within one year of the date shown in the heading of the balance sheet....
What is the difference between accounts payable and accounts receivable? Definition of Accounts Payable Accounts payable is a current liability account in which a company records the amounts it owes to suppliers or...
What is window dressing? Definition of Window Dressing Window dressing refers to actions taken or not taken prior to issuing financial statements in order to improve the appearance of the financial statements. Example...
Why is it necessary to allocate a lump sum payment to individual items? It is necessary to allocate a lump sum payment to individual items in order to record a fair portion of the lump sum in each of the proper general...
What is the accounting cycle? Definition of Accounting Cycle The accounting cycle is often described as a process that includes the following steps: Identifying, collecting and analyzing documents and transactions...
What is a dividend and why is it needed? A dividend paid by a corporation is a distribution of profits to the owners of the corporation. The owners of a corporation are known as stockholders or shareholders. (In a sole...
What is the difference between gross profit margin and gross margin? Definition of Gross Profit Gross profit is an amount that is computed as follows: A company’s net Sales minus its cost of goods sold A product’s...
How do the responsibilities of a bookkeeper differ from those of an accountant? I see a bookkeeper’s responsibilities as getting the business transactions into the company’s general ledger. This involves a tremendous...
What is opportunity cost? Definition of Opportunity Cost Opportunity cost is the profit that was lost or missed because of some action or failure to take some action. Some refer to opportunity cost as opportunity lost....
financial statements using the accrual basis of accounting. Will the company’s wages expense for its hourly-paid employees (that is reported on its December income statement) be the same total amount that is reported...
is credited to this account and then amortized with a credit to interest expense over the life of the bonds. Mark as wrong Mark as right straight-line amortization This is a common method for systematically moving bond...
on the income statement of a retailer or manufacturer. The cost flow (FIFO, LIFO, etc.) will have an effect on the amount. cost of goods sold (or) cost of sales This is usually the largest expense on the income...
Our Explanation of Payroll Accounting discusses the taxes and benefits which are withheld from employees' pay as well as the taxes and benefits that are expenses for the employers. Also provided are examples of the...
The number of shares of stock that a corporation may issue. The amount is specified in the corporation’s articles of incorporation.
The depreciation method based on the number of units produced by the asset rather than on the passage of time. This method is also referred to as the units of activity method because depreciation is based on some...
A form of accelerated depreciation which means that in the early years of an asset’s life there is more depreciation expense than under the straight-line method. However, in the later years of the asset’s...
Used to calculate the earnings per share of common stock: Earnings available for common stock divided by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding. The weighted-average number of shares is needed...
What does a balance sheet tell us? Definition of Balance Sheet A balance sheet reports the dollar amounts of a company’s assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity (or stockholders’ equity) as of midnight of the...
What is safety stock? Definition of Safety Stock Safety stock is an additional quantity of an item held by a company in inventory in order to reduce the risk that the item will be out of stock. Safety stock acts as a...
What is an account payable? Definition of an Account Payable An account payable is an amount owed to a supplier or vendor for goods or services that were provided in advance of payment. However, some people use the term...
How do you calculate accrued vacation pay? Definition of Accrued Vacation Pay Accrued vacation pay is the amount of vacation pay that a company’s employees have earned, but the company has not yet paid. Example of...
What is the difference between stock dividend and cash dividend? Definition of a Stock Dividend A stock dividend is a dividend consisting of additional shares of stock. Assume that before a corporation declares a stock...
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’...
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....
Should an owner's compensation be recorded as an expense or in the Drawing account? If the enterprise is a sole proprietorship, the owner’s compensation should be debited to the Drawing account. If the enterprise is a...
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 the accounts receivable turnover ratio? Definition of Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio The accounts receivable turnover ratio (or receivables turnover ratio) is an important financial ratio that indicates a...
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...
What is the difference between paid-in capital and retained earnings? Definition of Paid-in Capital Paid-in capital is one of the major categories of stockholders’ equity. Generally, paid-in capital reports the amount...
Why do we charge depreciation? Definition of Depreciation Accountants charge (to expense) Have a significant cost Will be useful for more than a year Will not be useful indefinitely Since the asset land is assumed to be...
How do I determine my payroll tax liabilities? Your payroll tax liabilities will include the following: Federal, state, and local income taxes withheld from employees’ wages, salaries, bonuses, etc. but not yet...
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