Why are some expenses deferred? Definition of Deferred Expenses Under the accrual basis of accounting, an expense is a cost that is used up, has expired, or is directly related to revenues reported on a company’s...
Why are some expenses deferred? Definition of Deferred Expenses Under the accrual basis of accounting, an expense is a cost that is used up, has expired, or is directly related to revenues reported on a company’s...
Are sales discounts reported as an expense? Definition of Sales Discounts Sales discounts are also known as cash discounts or early payment discounts. Sales discounts (along with sales returns and allowances) are...
What to do with the balance in Allowance for Doubtful Accounts? Definition of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is a contra asset account that is used with the balance in Accounts...
How are the balance sheet and income statement connected? Connection between Balance Sheet and Income Statement The connection between the balance sheet and the income statement results from: The use of double-entry...
Is a security deposit a current asset? Definition of Security Deposit A security deposit is often an amount paid by a tenant to a landlord to hold until the tenant moves. The amount of the security deposit is refundable...
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...
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 accrual basis of accounting? Definition of Accrual Basis of Accounting Under the accrual basis of accounting (or accrual method of accounting), revenues are reported on the income statement when they are...
Why Does Inventory Get Reported on Some Income Statements? Reporting of Inventory on Financial Statements Inventory is an asset and its ending balance is reported in the current asset section of a company’s balance...
How are dividends paid when there are dividends in arrears? Definition of Dividends in Arrears Dividends in arrears exist when a corporation has: Cumulative preferred stock Omitted past dividends on the cumulative...
Do variance accounts have an impact on financial statements? Or are they for performance evaluation only? Since the financial statements must reflect the cost principle, both the standard costs and the variances must be...
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...
What are prepaid expenses? Definition of Prepaid Expenses Prepaid expenses are future expenses that have been paid in advance. In other words, prepaid expenses are costs that have been paid but are not yet used up or...
Is a utility bill an expense? The utility bill for a retailer or for a service company is an expense. Under the accrual basis of accounting, the utility bill is an expense for the period indicated by the meter reading...
What are fixed assets? Definition of Fixed Assets Fixed assets are a company’s tangible, noncurrent assets that are used in its business operations. The word fixed indicates that these assets will not be used up,...
Why would a business change its chart of accounts? There can be several reasons for a business to change its chart of accounts. One reason for changing the chart of accounts is to better match how the business is...
What are accrued revenues and when are they recorded? Definition of Accrued Revenues Accrued revenues include service revenues, interest income, sales of goods, etc. which have been earned by a business, but the...
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 does it mean to replenish the petty cash fund? Definition of Replenishing Petty Cash Replenishing the petty cash fund means the petty cash custodian requests and receives cash from the company’s regular checking...
How many days after a month ends should the bank reconciliation be done? Definition Bank Reconciliation The bank reconciliation (if prepared or reviewed by someone other than the person with access to the checking...
What is the meaning of pro rata? Pro rata is a Latin term that means in proportion. Pro rata is related to prorate, a term used in cost accounting. To illustrate the term pro rata, let’s assume that a company’s...
Are the sales taxes part of a retailer's sales? Definition of Sales Taxes Sales taxes are likely state and local taxes collected by the sellers of specified goods and the providers of specified services. The sales taxes...
What is a purchase return? Definition of Purchase Return A purchase return occurs when a buyer returns merchandise that it had purchased from a supplier. Since the return of purchased merchandise is time consuming and...
Why does an inventory error affect two periods? Definition of Inventory Error An inventory error could be the result of any of the following: Omitting some items when physically counting inventory Double counting some...
What are the required financial statements? The required financial statements for U.S. business corporations are: Statement of income. This financial statement is also known as the statement of operations, statement of...
How do you calculate the cost of carrying inventory? Definition of Cost of Carrying Inventory The cost of carrying inventory (or cost of holding inventory) is the sum of the following: Cost of money tied up in inventory,...
What is "deficit" appearing in stockholders' equity? Definition of Deficit Within Stockholders’ Equity The term deficit is used within the stockholders’ equity section of a corporation’s balance sheet in place of...
Where does the interest paid on bank loans get reported on the statement of cash flows. Definition of Interest on Bank Loans The interest on bank loans is usually an expense of the accounting period in which the interest...
How do I learn more about the CPA Exam? You can learn more about the Uniform CPA Exam at our free Accounting Career Center. Within our Accounting Career Center are direct links to the state boards of accountancy, CPA...
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 the employer matching of FICA? Definition of FICA FICA is the acronym for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which requires employers to withhold the following from each employee’s paycheck: Social Security...
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 cash discount? Definition of Cash Discount A cash discount is a deduction allowed by some sellers of goods or by some providers of services to motivate customers to pay within an earlier specified time. The...
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...
If a company earns a profit, which balance sheet items change? Definition of Profit Profit is the result of revenues minus expenses. How Profits Change the Balance Sheet Since all business transactions affect at least...
How does petty cash affect expenses? Definition of Petty Cash Petty cash is a small amount of currency and coins that a company has available to make very small payments instead of requesting and processing a company...
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...
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 items are added to the balance per bank on the bank reconciliation? Bank Reconciliation Adjustments to Bank Balance The items that are added to the balance per bank when doing a bank reconciliation include: Deposits...
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...
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