Why do you separate current liabilities from long-term liabilities? Definition of Current Liabilities and Long-term Liabilities Generally, current liabilities are a company’s obligations that are due within one year of...
Why do you separate current liabilities from long-term liabilities? Definition of Current Liabilities and Long-term Liabilities Generally, current liabilities are a company’s obligations that are due within one year of...
Why does an increase in accounts payable appear as an addition on the statement of cash flows? Adjustments from Accrual to Cash on Statement of Cash Flows When the statement of cash flows (SCF, cash flow statement) is...
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...
Our Explanation of Income Statement helps you learn the most important features of a corporation's income statement (also known as the statement of operations or profit and loss statement). We provide more understanding...
Our Explanation of the Balance Sheet provides you with a basic understanding of a corporation's balance sheet (or statement of financial position). You will gain insights regarding the assets, liabilities, and...
What is equity? Definitions and Examples of Equity Equity has several definitions that pertain to accounting: Equity can indicate an ownership interest in a business, such as stockholders’ equity or owner’s equity....
A company’s receipts that appear on the company’s records but do not yet appear on the bank statement. For example, a retail store’s receipts of March 31 are deposited after banking hours on March 31 or...
These journal entries are made after the financial statements have been prepared at the end of the accounting year. Most of the closing entries involve the income statement accounts (revenues, expenses, gains, losses,...
What is a source document? Definition of Source Document A source document is an original record which contains the detail that supports or substantiates a transaction that will be (or has been) entered in an accounting...
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...
What is book value? Definition of Book Value In accounting, book value refers to the amounts contained in the company’s general ledger accounts (or books). It is important to realize that the book value is not the same...
When does a negative cash balance appear on the balance sheet? Definition of Negative Cash Balance A negative cash balance results when the cash account in a company’s general ledger has a credit balance. The credit or...
What is the difference between Notes Payable and Accounts Payable? Definition of Notes Payable The account Notes Payable is a liability account in which a borrower’s written promise to pay a lender is recorded. (The...
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...
How do you calculate the gain or loss when an asset is sold? Definition of Gain or Loss on Sale of an Asset The gain or loss on the sale of an asset used in a business is the difference between 1) the amount of cash that...
What are semivariable costs? Definition of Semivariable Costs Semivariable costs are costs or expenses whose behavior is partially fixed and partially variable. That is, part of the total cost does not increase or...
Is depreciation an operating expense? Depreciation Could Be Either an Operating Expense or a Non-operating Expense Depreciation is an operating expense if the asset being depreciated is used in an organization’s main...
What is a contra expense account? Definition of Contra Expense Account A contra expense account is a general ledger expense account that will intentionally have a credit balance (instead of the debit balance that is...
Is the provision for doubtful debts an operating expense? Definition of Provision for Doubtful Debts Some companies use Provision for Doubtful Debts as the name of the contra-asset account which is reported on the...
How do you calculate ending inventory? Physically Counting the Items in Inventory One method for calculating the cost of a company’s ending inventory is to 1) physically count the quantity of each of the items in...
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 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,...
How is a short term bank loan recorded? Definition of Short Term Bank Loan When a company borrows money from its bank and agrees to repay the loan amount within a year, the company will record the loan by increasing its...
What is the debt to total assets ratio? Definition of Debt to Total Assets Ratio The debt to total assets ratio is an indicator of a company’s financial leverage. It tells you the percentage of a company’s total...
What is accumulated depreciation? Definition of Accumulated Depreciation Accumulated depreciation is the total amount of a plant asset’s cost that has been allocated to depreciation expense (or to manufacturing...
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 LIFO instead of FIFO? Definitions of FIFO and LIFO FIFO and LIFO are two of the cost flow assumptions used by U.S. companies with inventory items. FIFO moves the first/oldest costs from inventory...
What is the three-way match? Definition of Three-Way Match In the accounting and bookkeeping area of accounts payable, the three-way match refers to a procedure used when processing an invoice received from a vendor or...
What is a dividend? Definition of Dividend Generally, the term dividend refers to a cash dividend, which is distribution of a portion of a corporation’s earnings to its stockholders in the form of cash. The cash...
What is meant by the full cost of a product? Many (perhaps most) accountants use the term full cost to mean the full manufacturing or production cost of a product. To these accountants this means a product’s cost of...
What are direct materials? Definition of Direct Materials Direct materials are defined as: Traceable matter that is converted by a manufacturer into products Part of manufacturer’s production costs A variable cost of a...
What is the difference between interest expense and interest payable? Definition of Interest Expense Assuming the accrual method of accounting, interest expense is the amount of interest that was incurred on debt during...
What is gross pay? Definition of Gross Pay Gross pay is the amount an employee is paid before the employer withholds FICA (Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes), income taxes (federal, state, local) if applicable,...
What is the total asset turnover ratio? Definition of Total Asset Turnover Ratio The total asset turnover ratio indicates the relationship between a company’s net sales for a specified year to the average amount of...
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...
What is solvency? Definition of Solvency I use the term solvency to mean a company is able to 1) pay its obligations when they come due, and 2) continue in business. Some people look to a company’s working capital to...
What is a current asset? Definition of Current Asset A current asset is a company’s cash and its other assets that are expected to be converted to cash within one year of the date appearing in the heading of the...
What is IFRS? IFRS is the acronym for International Financial Reporting Standards. IFRS is used throughout the world except in the United States where U.S. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) is followed....
What is meant by nonoperating expenses and losses? Definition of Nonoperating Expenses and Losses Nonoperating expenses are business expenses that are outside of a company’s main or central operations. (Some describe...
What is a burden rate in inventory? I assume that the burden rate in inventory refers to a manufacturer’s indirect manufacturing costs, which are also referred to as factory overhead, indirect production costs, and...
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