Discussion Questions Week 2 1.) What is meant by the term double-entry accounting? Examples are great and try to build on what each other has said.
Double entry accounting is based on the fact that every financial transaction has equal and opposite effects in at least two different accounts. In the double entry system, transactions are recorded in terms of debits and credits. Since a debit in one account will be offset by a credit in another account, the sum of all debits must therefore be exactly equal to the sum of all credits. The double-entry system of bookkeeping or accounting makes it easier to accurately prepare financial statements directly from the books of account and detect errors.
For example: A company borrows a loan
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| 5000 | | Supplies | 1200 | | Account Payable | | 1200 | Rent Expense | 8000 | | | | | Total | $14200 | $ 14200 | 4.) What are adjusting entries and why are they important? | | | | | |
Adjusting entries are usually made on the last day of an accounting period so that the financial statements reflect the revenues that have been earned and the expenses that were incurred during the accounting period. The purpose of each adjusting entry is to get both the income statement and the balance sheet to be correct. An example of adjusting entry: a customer paid a company in advance of receiving goods or service, the amount is reported as a liability. After the goods or services are delivered, an adjusting entry is needed to reduce the liability and to report the revenues. 5.) Cash basis vs Accrual basis
The difference between accrual and cash basis accounting is the timing of when revenue and expenses are recognized. The cash method is most used by small businesses and for personal finances. The cash method for revenue is only used when the money is received and expenses are only used when the money is paid out. The accrual method is used for revenue when it is earned and
The cash basis of accounting records revenues when cash is received and expenses when cash is paid out. The accrual basis of accounting records revenues when they are earned and expenses when resources are used.
Some data entry steps may occur at any time during the accounting cycle, other transactions occur only during financial statement production. Each step consists of set of rules used to ensure the accuracy and conformity of financial statements to avoid illegal actions using inaccurate figures. Each type of report has a level of significance and use as each document provides differing information involving things such revenues, cash flows, and other transactions made within an
The process requires Peyton Approved to discover how much inventory is sold and what the cost of goods will result in. The process requires the business to review three forms of merchandise inventory to determine which summary benefits the business’s operational behavior. One will discover when assuming that first inventory purchased by the store is the first to be sold, it is determined that the FIFO method displays the best financial outcome for the business. During the process of updating journal entries, one must enter the information proved appropriately into the T-accounts to add the balance under each record. Once the T-accounts for transactions and adjusted transactions are balanced, the next step is to enter the information provided on the balance sheet. The balance sheet will list Peyton Approved assets, liabilities and stockholders equity after added during the T-account process (Nobles, 2014). Once the balance sheet is completed the income statement, statement of retained earnings, and closing entries can be filled with the information proved. This will give the business a full review from journal entry to closing entries of the business for the six month accounting
Accounting is commonly described as the language of business. It is very important for all business owners to have very good understanding of their finances. Having the knowledge of your business finance, you will know where the money is going. Every business owner should have a good understanding of finance. To have a good understanding business owners needs to understand basic accounting steeps, how does accounting play a role in their business, how to define a financial statement and how the omission of any of these steps would affect the success of a business. Once you have an understanding of accounting/finance and the how it plays
The accrual basis of accounting uses the adjusting process to recognize revenues when earned and expenses when incurred. The cash basis of accounting recognizes revenues when cash is received and records expenses when cash is paid. An example of accrual basis of accounting is if a company is insuring a building. The insurance company bills the company $600 every six months. If each bill is for six months of coverage, then under the accrual method, the company would not record a $600 expense in January and a $600 expense in July. It would instead record a $100 expense each month for the whole year.
What makes a large organization like Wal-Mart financially successful? One could say it is the result of outstanding personnel or perhaps a strong determination to succeed. These factors certainly contribute. However the key to financial success in organizations lies in good accounting. Since early civilization began, accounting has been an important part of our financial transactions. In today’s world our use of modern accounting systems and accurate financial statements are critical components that make modern organizations successful. To facilitate understanding of this point one must understand how
i – One specific transaction can be captured in the accounting information as input, process and output such as a supplier invoice. This supplier invoice would be initially recorded onto the company’s books when it reaches them, this would be the input. After this, it will be included in the summary of the general ledger accounts after being processed by double entry accounting, this would be the process. Finally, it will be displayed in financial statements such as the balance sheet and this would be the output.
An adjusting journal entry or an adjusting entry, involves an income statement account (revenue or expense) along with a balance sheet account (asset or liability) and typically relates to the accounts for accrued expenses, accrued revenue, prepaid expenses and unearned revenue. (Investopedia.com, n.d.) When accounts are not updated to show the correct transactions or a mistake has been made, adjusting entry will provide insight in order to ensure all entries are appropriately recorded. This action will then reflect the accurate amounts of expenses and revenues. Once this is done, a business may close accounts for the ending period.
Accounting aspects have been several in amounts. They lay out ground rules for succeeding in
Under GAAP, it is possible to use cash-basis or accrual basis accounting for revenue recognition. Under cash basis, revenue is recognized with payment is received. Under accrual basis, revenue is recognized when it becomes economically significant. GAAP has specific requirements for various industries on when an event qualifies to be recognized as revenue.
The process of recording and posting the effects of business transaction is done in a double entry t-form. The total dollar amount of debits must equal the total dollar amount of credits, with debits to the left and account credit to the right. Broken down, Assets = Liabilities + Stakeholder Equity. “Since debits increase assets, expense, and dividend accounts, they normally have debit balances. Conversely, because credits increase liability, capital stock, retained earnings, and revenue accounts, they normally have credit balances.”( Edwards, J. D., Hermanson, R.H., & Maher, M. W. (2011). p.84)
The major distinction between the accrual and the cash basis of accounting is when revenue and expenses are recognized. When the cash method is used, revenue is recorded when money is received. Expenses are recorded only when money is paid. The Accrual method accounts for revenue when it is earned. Expenses for goods and services are recorded when they are incurred. The
The first one is the income statement – Income statement is a financial statement that
Accrual accounting is an accounting method that is utilized to size the performance and of a company by recognizing circumstances regardless of when cash transactions occur. They are documented by matching revenues to expenses at the time in which the transaction occurs rather than when a payment is processed. This method allows the current cash credits and debits to be combined with future expected cash flows to give a more accurate picture of a company 's current financial state. It is ideal to use this method of accounting if an organization has a revenue of more than five million per year. While the accrual method shows the flow of business income and debts more accurately, the downside to this method of accounting is that financial advisers may be blindsided as to what cash reserves are available, which could ultimately result in some serious cash flow obstacles. A common example that I have seen used which helps me understand is when your income ledger may show thousands of dollars in sales, while in reality your bank account is empty because your customers haven 't paid you yet. Cash Basis accounting is when revenues are documented when cash is received and expenses are recognized when paid. The cash basis of accounting is usually utilized by small companies with a revenue of less than one million annually. The cash method provides a more accurate picture of how much actual cash your business has. Cash basis accounting is allowed for tax purposes only for smaller