Selling expenses are part of the operating expenses (along with administrative expenses). Selling expenses include sales commissions, advertising, promotional materials distributed, rent of the sales showroom, rent of the sales offices, salaries and fringe benefits of sales personnel, utilities and telephone usage in the sales department, etc.
Under the accrual basis of accounting, selling expenses appear on the income statement in the period in which they occurred (not the period in which they were paid).
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