What are some reasons that cause the balance on the bank statement to differ from the cash balance on the books? Reasons a Bank Balance Will Differ from a Company’s Balance Some of the reasons for a difference between...
What are some reasons that cause the balance on the bank statement to differ from the cash balance on the books? Reasons a Bank Balance Will Differ from a Company’s Balance Some of the reasons for a difference between...
What is the difference between expenses and payments? Definition of Expenses and Payments Under the accrual method of accounting, expenses are costs that have been used up or have been incurred in the process of earning...
What is the cost of goods manufactured? Definition of Cost of Goods Manufactured The cost of goods manufactured is a calculation of the production costs of the goods that were completed during an accounting period. In...
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...
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 is EBIT? EBIT is the acronym for earnings before interest and taxes. In other words, EBIT is a corporation’s net income assuming it had no interest expense and no income tax expense. (Since the amount of earnings...
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...
What is Form 10-K? Definition of Form 10-K Form 10-K is a required annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by U.S. corporations whose common stock is publicly traded. It is common for a...
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 a letter of credit? A letter of credit is a letter or document issued by a bank for use by one of its customers. The letter of credit states that the bank will guarantee payment up to the stated amount for...
What are bonds payable? Definition of Bonds Payable Bonds payable are a form of long term debt usually issued by corporations, hospitals, and governments. The issuer of bonds makes a formal promise/agreement to pay...
What is the reorder point? Definition of Reorder Point The reorder point is the quantity of units in inventory at which time an order should be placed to purchase additional units. The reorder point is calculated by...
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...
Why is an increase in inventory shown as a negative amount in the statement of cash flows? Meaning of a Negative Amount on Statement of Cash Flows A negative amount on the statement of cash flows (SCF) indicates that the...
What is a nonprofit organization? A nonprofit organization is an organization without commercial owners and which addresses the needs of society. Nonprofit organizations are also known as not-for-profits, NFP’s or...
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 the difference between vertical analysis and horizontal analysis? Definition of Vertical Analysis Vertical analysis expresses each amount on a financial statement as a percentage of another amount. The vertical...
What is depreciation expense? Definition of Depreciation Expense Depreciation expense is the appropriate portion of a company’s fixed asset’s cost that is being used up during the accounting period shown in 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...
What is the difference between dividends and interest expense? Definition of Dividends Dividends are a distribution of a corporation’s earnings to its stockholders. Dividends are not an expense of the corporation and...
What is an equivalent unit of production? Definition of Equivalent Unit of Production An equivalent unit of production is an expression of the amount of work done by a manufacturer on units of output that are partially...
What is the difference between public sector and private sector? Definition of Public Sector Public sector refers to: government-owned organizations, and government-provided services (Note: public sector entity is...
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 is net? In accounting, net usually refers to the combination of positive and negative amounts. For example, the amount of net sales is the combination of the amount of gross sales (a positive amount) and some...
What is the difference between FIFO and LIFO? Difference Between FIFO and LIFO The difference between FIFO and LIFO will exist only if the unit costs of a company’s products are increasing or decreasing. U.S. companies...
What is practical capacity? Definition of Practical Capacity Practical capacity is a manufacturer’s level of output (often expressed in machine hours, barrels, pounds, etc.). Practical capacity is less than its...
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 boilerplate? In business, boilerplate is a term to describe the standard wording that is contained in warranties and other documents. Generally, the information that is boilerplate is not subject to change....
What is prime cost? Definition of Prime Cost In cost accounting, the prime cost of a manufactured product is the combination of the following: Direct materials cost Direct labor cost The indirect manufacturing costs...
What is budgeting? Definition of Budgeting Budgeting is the process of preparing detailed projections of future amounts. Companies often engage in two types of budgeting: Operational budgeting, and Capital budgeting...
What is lead time in purchasing? In purchasing, lead time is the estimated time between ordering goods and receiving the goods. For instance, if 100 units of Product X are ordered on April 11 and are expected to be...
What is net working capital? Definition of Net Working Capital Net working capital is the amount (as opposed to being a ratio) remaining after subtracting a company’s total amount of current liabilities from its total...
What is the difference between the terms capitalize and depreciate? Definition of Capitalize In accounting, the term capitalize refers to adding an amount to the balance sheet as an asset (as opposed to immediately...
What is long-term debt? Definition of Long-term Debt In accounting, long-term debt generally refers to a company’s loans and other liabilities that will not become due within one year of the balance sheet date. (The...
What is a defined benefit pension plan? A defined benefit pension plan is a retirement plan in which the employer commits to paying a specified monthly payment to each eligible employee when he or she retires at a stated...
What is the stated interest rate of a bond payable? Definition of Stated Interest Rate of a Bond The stated interest rate of a bond payable is the annual interest rate that is printed on the face of the bond and stated...
What is included in cash and cash equivalents? Examples of Cash In accounting, a company’s cash includes the following: currency and coins checks received from customers but not yet deposited checking accounts petty...
Are repairs to office equipment an expense? Repairing and maintaining office equipment is an immediate expense. This is true even if the repair cost is a very large amount. If a large expenditure is made to improve...
What are phantom profits? The terms phantom profits or illusory profits are often used in the context of inventory (but can also pertain to depreciation) during periods of rising costs. The amount of phantom or illusory...
What is leverage? Definition of Leverage In accounting and finance, leverage is the use of a significant amount of debt to purchase an asset, operate a company, acquire another company, etc. Since the cost of debt is...
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