What is Subchapter S? Subchapter S refers to a section of Chapter 1 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. A subchapter S corporation, which is also referred to as an S corporation, is a corporation that does not pay the...
What is Subchapter S? Subchapter S refers to a section of Chapter 1 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. A subchapter S corporation, which is also referred to as an S corporation, is a corporation that does not pay the...
What is a trade discount? Definition of Trade Discount A trade discount is a routine reduction from the regular, established price of a product. The use of trade discounts allows a company to vary the final price based...
What is an invoice? Definition of Invoice An invoice is a dated bill prepared by the seller of goods sold (or services provided) which includes brief descriptions of the items, quantities of items and their unit prices,...
What is a deposit in transit? Definition of Deposit in Transit A company’s deposit in transit is the currency and customers’ checks that have been received and are rightfully reported as cash on the date received,...
A credit is not a normal balance for what accounts? Definition of Credit Balance A credit balance refers to the balance on the right side of a general ledger account or T-account. Normally, the liability and owner’s...
What is the difference between an adjunct account and a contra account? Definition of Adjunct Account An adjunct account is a general ledger account that is related to another general ledger account. The combination of...
What is a fringe benefit rate? Definition of Fringe Benefit Rate A fringe benefit rate is a percentage that results from dividing the cost of an employee’s fringe benefits by the wages paid to the employee for the...
What is an overdraft? Definition of Overdraft An overdraft (also known as a bank overdraft) generally means that the amount of a company’s checks being presented at the bank for payment exceeded the amount on deposit....
What is an unpresented cheque or check and does it require an adjustment to the balance sheet? Definition of Unpresented Cheque or Check An unpresented cheque is a check that a company has written, but the check has not...
How do you amortize goodwill? Definition of Amortize Goodwill Prior to 2001, to amortize goodwill meant to consistently and in uniform increments move the reported amount of the intangible asset goodwill from the balance...
Is income tax an expense or liability? Definition of Income Tax In the accounting for a regular U.S. corporation, income tax usually refers to the federal, state, local, and foreign countries’ taxes that are levied...
What is discount on bonds payable? Definition of Discount on Bonds Payable Discount on bonds payable (or bond discount) occurs when a corporation issues bonds and receives less than the bonds’ face or maturity amount....
What is self-insurance? Self-insurance means no insurance. For example, if a retailer decides to self-insure its buildings, the retailer will not have an insurance policy to pay for losses that may occur to its...
What is meant by the term relevance in accounting? Definition of Relevance In accounting, the term relevance could mean one of the following: An amount, disclosure, etc. that will make a difference to the decision maker...
What is the accounting equation? Definition of Accounting Equation The accounting equation of a sole proprietorship is assets = liabilities + owner’s equity. For a corporation, the accounting equation is assets =...
What does debit memo mean on a bank statement? Definition of Bank Debit Memo A debit memo on a company’s bank statement refers to a deduction by the bank from the company’s bank account. In other words, a bank debit...
What does it mean to report expenses by function? Definition of Reporting Expenses by Function Reporting expenses by function means to classify and report expenses according to the type of activity for which the expenses...
What are sundry expenses? Definition of Sundry Expenses In accounting and bookkeeping, sundry expenses are expenses that are small in amount and rare in occurrence. For these rare and insignificant expenses, a company...
What is a fiscal year? Definition of Fiscal Year A fiscal year is an accounting year that does not end on December 31. (Accounting years of January 1 through December 31 are known as calendar years.) A fiscal year could...
Where in the chart of accounts is a suspense account located? Suspense Account in the Chart of Accounts A suspense account could be located in any one of these sections of an organization’s chart of accounts: Asset...
What is other comprehensive income? Definition of Other Comprehensive Income Other comprehensive income, or OCI, consists of items that have an effect on the balance sheet amounts, but the effect is not reported on the...
What are sales discounts? Definition of Sales Discounts Sales discounts (if offered by sellers) reduce the amounts owed to the sellers of products, when the buyers pay within the stated discount periods. Sales discounts...
Is contributed capital a noncurrent asset or a current asset, and is it a debit or credit? Definition of Contributed Capital Contributed capital is one of the major components of a corporation’s stockholders’ equity....
What is ERP? Definition of ERP In accounting, ERP is the acronym for enterprise resource planning. ERP could be described as a database software package that supports all of a business’s processes and operations...
Are LIFO inventory amounts ever written-up to their market value? LIFO inventory amounts will not be written-up, even when the current market value of the inventory is far greater than the amount reported on the balance...
What is the operating cycle? Operating cycle definition The operating cycle is the time required for a company’s cash to be put into its operations and then return to the company’s cash account. Operating cycle...
What causes a corporation's market value to be greater than its book value? One cause of a corporation’s market value being greater than its book value is the accountant’s cost principle. In order for an item to be...
What is the matching principle? Definition of Matching Principle The matching principle is one of the basic underlying guidelines in accounting. The matching principle directs a company to report an expense on its income...
What is the difference between par and no par value stock? Definition of Par Value Stock Some states’ laws require or may have required common stock issued by corporations residing in their states to have a par value....
What is a promissory note? Definition of Promissory Note A promissory note is a written promise to pay an amount of money by a specified date (or perhaps on demand). The maker of the promissory note agrees to pay the...
Is a security deposit for a rental agreement recorded in a liability account? The person paying the security deposit would credit the asset account Cash and would debit the asset account Security Deposits. The person...
What is an ordinary annuity? Definition of Ordinary Annuity In accounting, an ordinary annuity refers to a series of identical cash amounts with each amount occurring at the end of equal time intervals. Another term for...
What is double-entry bookkeeping? Definition of Double-Entry Bookkeeping Double-entry bookkeeping refers to the 500-year-old system in which each financial transaction of a company is recorded with an entry into at least...
What is bad debts? Definition of Bad Debts The term bad debts usually refers to accounts receivable (or trade accounts receivable) that will not be collected. (Bad debts is also used for notes receivable that will not be...
Will I be able to pass the CPA Exam after studying the accounting material on AccountingCoach.com? AccountingCoach.com contains introductory accounting material. While you need to master the principles and concepts...
What is the carrying amount? Definition of Carrying Amount The term carrying amount is also known as book value or carrying value. The term carrying amount is often used when there is a valuation account associated with...
What is premium on common stock? Definition of Premium on Common Stock If a corporation’s common stock has a par value and the corporation receives more than the par value when issuing a new share of the stock, the...
What is the entry for a loan to an employee? Definition of Loan to Employee A loan to an employee is money advanced by the company to assist the employee. If the employee is expected to repay the loan within one year of...
What is the aging method? Definition of Aging Method The aging method usually refers to the technique for estimating the amount of a company’s accounts receivable that will not be collected. The estimated amount that...
What is Additional Medicare Tax? Definition of Additional Medicare Tax The Additional Medicare Tax is one of the U.S. government’s payroll withholding taxes that is paid solely by employees and the self-employed. In...
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