Is there a difference between the accounts Purchases and Inventory? Purchases Account Under the Periodic Inventory System The general ledger account Purchases is used to record the purchases of inventory items under the...
Is there a difference between the accounts Purchases and Inventory? Purchases Account Under the Periodic Inventory System The general ledger account Purchases is used to record the purchases of inventory items under the...
Which items on a bank reconciliation will require a journal entry? Journal Entries for Bank Reconciliation The items on the bank reconciliation that require a journal entry are the items noted as adjustments to books....
What is an accounting period? Definition of Accounting Period An accounting period is the period of time covered by a company’s financial statements. Common accounting periods for external financial statements include...
Will the adjusting entry amounts appear in the balance sheet and income statement? Absolutely. The adjusting entry amounts must be included on the income statement in order to report all revenues earned and all expenses...
Is it a requirement for a small business to have a CPA? Generally, a small business is not required to have a CPA or certified public accountant. A CPA would be needed if the small business must have its financial...
How do the income statements of a sole proprietorship and a regular corporation differ? Definition of Income Statements of Sole Proprietorship and Regular Corporation The income statement of a sole proprietorship and a...
Why are accruals needed every month? Reasons for Monthly Accruals Accrual adjusting entries are needed monthly only if a company issues monthly financial statements. Two reasons for the monthly accrual adjusting entries...
How, when and why do you prepare closing entries? Definition of Closing Entries Closing entries transfer the balances from the temporary accounts to a permanent or real account at the end of the accounting year. As a...
Are undeposited checks reported as cash? Undeposited checks that are not postdated (not dated with a future date) are reported as cash. Accountants define cash as more than just currency and coins. For example,...
What is a transposition error? Definition of Transposition Error A transposition error occurs when an amount is recorded incorrectly as the result of switching the positions of two (or more) digits. The switching of the...
What is the cash flow statement? Definition of Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement (officially known as the statement of cash flows) is one of the required financial statements issued by U.S. businesses (and by...
Where does a bond sinking fund appear on the balance sheet? Definition of Bond Sinking Fund A bond sinking fund is an investment made by a corporation that is restricted for the purpose of retiring its bonds payable,...
What is the accounting entry when an order is received? There is no accounting entry recorded in a company’s general ledger accounts when an order is received. The reason is that a sale or sales revenues has not yet...
How do I record an advance to an employee and the deduction? Definition of Advance to an Employee A cash advance to an employee is usually a temporary loan by a company to an employee. In other words, the company is the...
What does the term organic growth mean? Organic growth often refers to the growth in a company’s sales that did not occur because of an acquisition of another company. Expressed another way, organic growth is...
What is a restrictive endorsement? Definition of Restrictive Endorsement A restrictive endorsement or restricted endorsement places a limitation on the use of a check or other negotiable financial instrument. Using a...
What is the difference between unearned revenue and unrecorded revenue? Definition of Unearned Revenue In financial accounting, unearned revenue refers to money received prior to being earned. It is also referred to as...
What is FIFO? Definition of FIFO In accounting, FIFO is the acronym for First-In, First-Out. It is a cost flow assumption usually associated with the valuation of inventory and the cost of goods sold. Under FIFO, the...
What is the gross profit method? Gross Profit Method Definition The gross profit method is a technique used to estimate the amount of ending inventory. The technique could be used for monthly financial statements when a...
If I want a gross margin of 25%, what percent should I mark up my product? Definition of Gross Margin Gross margin as a percentage is the gross profit divided by the selling price. For example, if a product sells for...
What is a revenue expenditure? Definition of Revenue Expenditure A revenue expenditure is a cost that will be an expense in the accounting period when the expenditure takes place. Revenue expenditures are often discussed...
What is the cost to store inventory? Definition of Cost to Store Inventory The cost to store, hold or carry inventory is the total of the following: Cost of the space used for storing inventory, such as rent, heat,...
What is the cost of goods available? Definition of Cost of Goods Available For non-manufacturing companies using the periodic inventory system in its general ledger, the cost of goods available (COGA, or cost of goods...
What is scrap value? Definition of Scrap Value In cost accounting, scrap value refers to a relatively insignificant amount that a manufacturer receives from the sale of production materials that remain after the...
What is a contingent asset? Definition of Contingent Asset A contingent asset is a potential asset that is associated with a potential gain. The asset and gain are contingent because they are dependent upon some future...
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...
Does paying an account payable affect net income? Definition of Paying Accounts Payable Under the accrual basis of accounting, expenses are recorded when they have occurred, not when they are paid. Therefore, if an...
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...
How do you calculate staff turnover? To calculate staff turnover, I would use the W-2 wage statements for the most recent year. My first step would be to sort the W-2’s into meaningful groups such as full-time...
What is a debenture? A debenture is an unsecured bond. In other words, a debenture is a bond without a lien on specific assets owned by the issuing corporation. Join PRO to Track Progress Mark the Question as Read...
What is a natural business year? Definition of Natural Business Year A natural business year is the period of 12 consecutive months (or 52-53 consecutive weeks) ending at a low point of the organization’s activities...
Why are wages reported as an expense when the work occurs, but the employees' tax records report them when they are paid? Accrual Method for the Corporation, Cash Method for the Employees The short answer is that the...
What are the accounting entries for a fully depreciated car? Definition of a Fully Depreciated Car A fully depreciated car is one where the car’s historical cost has already been allocated to expense (except for the...
What is cycle counting? Cycle counting refers to physically counting a portion of the inventory items on many days throughout the year instead of counting all of the items on a single day near the end of the year. For...
What is a post-dated check? Definition of a Post-dated Check A post-dated check (or post-dated cheque) is a check written with a future date. In other words, the date that appears on the check is after the date when the...
How do I learn of new accounting rules? The U.S. accounting rules issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) can be found on its free website www.fasb.org/st/. There you will find: FASB Statements...
How is the account Cash Short and Over used? Definition of Cash Short and Over Account The account Cash Short and Over is an income statement account (within a company’s general ledger) in which shortages or overages...
What is a bond? There are several business definitions for bond. A bond could be a formal debt instrument issued by a corporation or government and purchased by investors. This is the meaning when we say that a public...
Are income taxes affected by accelerated depreciation? Definition of Accelerated Depreciation Accelerated depreciation means the cost of an asset used in a business will be charged to Depreciation Expense at a faster...
What is principles of accounting? Three meanings come to mind when you ask about principles of accounting… Principles of accounting was often the title of the introductory course in accounting. It was also common for...
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