The field of accounting is typically divided into two areas, financial accounting and cost (or managerial) accounting. Whereas the purpose of financial accounting is to report the results and position of a business to external parties, cost accounting focuses on internal reporting for the purpose of improving managerial decision making. This means that cost accounting is forward looking, as opposed to the primarily backward-looking financial … Continue reading Cost Accounting »

A company’s financial statements give investors, managers, and other “users” a complete, honest look at its financial health. Finished financial statements follow a standardized format, letting investors compare different companies in the same industry apples-to-apples. For the company’s financial reporting team, this presents a challenge – every business’s internal operations are different, but all activities need to be summarized into a standardized format. Businesses assign … Continue reading Creating Financial Statements »

The accounting cycle is a series of steps that businesses take to track transactions and consolidate financial information over a specific accounting period (month, quarter, year). The end result of the accounting cycle is the production of accurate financial statements for that period and preparedness for the next accounting period. We will examine the steps involved in the accounting cycle, which are: (1) identifying transactions, … Continue reading The Accounting Cycle »

Accounting is often defined as the backbone of any corporation or business. Without the numbers explaining the day-to-day operation, it’s tough to tell how well or how poorly said company is doing. In order to simplify accounting as a whole, it is easiest to split it into two separate definitions. On one side, there is financial accounting, which focuses heavily on the numbers and creating … Continue reading Managerial Accounting »

The love of money… A Case of Fraud at LocatePlus Holdings Corporation   In business, greed comes most frequently not in the pursuit of profit but in the form of financial fraud. Individuals who lack or loosen their ethical restraints often rationalize their behavior as unavoidable or good-intentioned. But, make no mistake, people who commit fraud normally do so in order to enrich themselves even … Continue reading The Love of Money: Audits and Fraud »

Big corporations are very powerful entities that can possess more capital than some countries in the world. However, every company begins as a small start-up business. These businesses grow with the injections of capital, both from the founders and from other investors. Going Public At one point, a company’s plans become so big that it needs public financing to support future development, and so they … Continue reading Issuance of Stocks and Paying Dividends »

A cash budget is used internally by management to estimate cash inflows (receipts) and outflows (disbursements) of cash during a period and the cash balance at the end of a period. In other words, a cash budget is a plan for an organization to obtain and use resources over a specific period of time. This means an organization must have an idea of where their … Continue reading Cash Planning »

Operating ratios are a class of ratios that are meant to analyze how well a company is using their assets. Specifically, these ratios show how well a company utilizes its assets to create revenue. Like many of the ratios that are used in financial analysis, operating ratios are complex ratios. Some use simple measures in their numerators and denominators, such as COGS (Cost of Goods … Continue reading Operating Ratios »

Revenue vs Gains Revenue and Gains are related fields related to the income a company receives. The main difference between them is the source of the income. Revenue Revenue represents income earned by the firm through the primary goods and/or services provided. It is the income earned from the firm’s operating activities. For example, Mike’s Computers specializes in selling computers to small businesses. During the … Continue reading GAAP – Gains and Losses »

Professional accountants are vital to our economy and society. Accountants ensure the effective use of resources by recommending ways to reduce cost, increase revenue, and mitigate risk. The accountancy profession is only as good as the quality of service provided by its members. The regulatory environment of the accounting industry seeks to ensure the quality and consistency of these services. This means accountants must comply … Continue reading Accounting Regulation and Ethics »

Every firm needs capital to purchase assets like inventory, land, and equipment. They also need cash to help manage expenses such as paying employees. How do companies raise the money they need to run their businesses? The answer is through a mix of liabilities (borrowing money) and equity (selling shares of ownership of the company). Liabilities and equity make up the right-hand side of the … Continue reading Accounting for Liabilities »

Facets of Assets How much is someone worth? One way to think about it could be to add up assets, or everything a person owns that holds financial value. First, think of everyday items like cash, a car, a computer, and perhaps money stored in a savings or investment account. However, there are some less obvious items to include as well. What if someone loaned … Continue reading GAAP – Accounting for Assets »

Most the taxes paid are through paychecks, so a large part of payroll accounting is properly accounting for all taxes. Most people are familiar with their annual personal tax return, but payroll tax filing works a bit differently. Payroll is run weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or even semi-monthly, so for each pay cycle, taxes need to be calculated and reported. All tax payments need to be … Continue reading Basics of Payroll Accounting »

One of the first challenges auditors and regulators faced when developing the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) was trying to standardize how companies account for their revenues and expenses. Before GAAP, companies had (more or less) free reign on how and when revenue and expenses were reported, leading to general confusion when trying to compare balance sheets and income statements between companies. Today, all companies … Continue reading Revenue and Expense Recognition »

What are the objectives of financial statements? How can accountants best meet these objectives? These are the very questions that the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) set out to address in 1976 when they began developing the conceptual framework. FASB’s goal was to identify the objectives and concepts that govern the preparation and presentation of financial reporting. In other words, to provide a backbone for … Continue reading GAAP – Purpose, Framework, and Terms »

More students than ever are interested in a career in accounting. So, where do you begin? What do you need in order to become a successful accountant? How can you market yourself in the accounting world to stand out among employers? This is a broad overview of what you can do now, and what it takes to be a successful accountant. Market Yourself Your biggest … Continue reading Starting a Career in Accounting »

An Introduction to Equity The Basic Accounting Equation says that Assets – Liabilities = Equity Equity (stockholders’ equity, owners’ equity, etc.) is the claim shareholders of a company have on assets once the liabilities have been satisfied. Equity on the Balance Sheet There are five critical entries on a balance sheet related to equity: retained earnings, common stock, preferred stock, treasury stock, and other comprehensive … Continue reading GAAP – Accounting for Equity »