Accounting

Compilation Presentation: Financial Statement Information
Compilation presentation refers to the financial statement information presented by the entity without an accountant's audit or assurance as to its conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This process follows the AICPA Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS).
Complete Audit: Thorough Examination of Internal Controls and Accounting Records
A complete audit is a comprehensive examination of a company's system of internal control and its detailed accounting records, including all subsidiary records and supporting documents.
Completed-Contract Method: An Accounting Method
The Completed-Contract Method is an accounting approach where net profit on a long-term contract is reported only upon the completion of the contract.
Complex Capital Structure: Financial Structure with Potential for Dilution
A detailed examination of complex capital structures in finance, including the implications of potential dilution, dual presentation of earnings per share, and comprehensive definitions.
Complex Trust: Overview and Key Features
An in-depth exploration of complex trusts, their creation, taxation, and applicability, with examples and historical context.
Component Depreciation: Understanding Asset Depreciation by Component
Component Depreciation involves depreciating property based on the lifespan of individual assets within it, such as electrical and plumbing components, roofs, and foundations. The method contrasts with composite depreciation and has seen diminished use due to tax regulations.
Composite Depreciation: An Overview
Composite Depreciation: This accounting method applies one depreciation rate to a group of assets, ensuring a simplified calculation of depreciation expenses. Commonly used in real estate where different components of a building have varying useful lives.
Conduit Approach: Income and Deductions Flow-through
Understanding the Conduit Approach in finance, where income or deductions flow through from one entity to another, like in partnerships or trusts.
Confirmation Positive: Assurance through Direct Inquiry
A definitive written or oral request by the auditor of a party having financial dealings with the client about the accuracy of an item. A response is required regardless of whether the particular item is correct or incorrect. It is typically used to validate account balances and transactions.
Consistency: A Principle in Accounting
An in-depth exploration of the Consistency Principle in accounting, which ensures the use of the same accounting procedures by an accounting entity from period to period.
Consolidated Financial Statement: Integration of Parent and Subsidiary Financial Data
A consolidated financial statement brings together all assets, liabilities, and other operating accounts of a parent company and its subsidiaries. It provides a comprehensive view of the financial health of the entire corporate group.
Consolidated Tax Return: Merging Tax Reports for Affiliated Groups
Comprehensive guide on consolidated tax returns, detailing how affiliated groups of companies combine their tax reports. Includes eligibility criteria, benefits, examples, and legal considerations.
Consolidated Taxable Items: Overview and Applications
Comprehensive guide on consolidated taxable items that are eliminated from separate taxable income, computed on a consolidated basis, and combined with the aggregated separate taxable income, including examples, historical context, and related terms.
Contingent Fee: Service Charges Based on Case Outcome
A comprehensive explanation of a contingent fee, its application in professional services, commonly in legal cases, where charges depend on the successful outcome of the case, often calculated as a percentage of the client's recovery.
Continuous Audit: Ongoing Examination of Accounting Records
Continuous Audit: An examination conducted on a recurring basis throughout the accounting period to detect and correct mistakes and improper accounting practices prior to the reporting year-end. A continuous audit also spreads the CPA's work throughout the year.
Contributed Capital: Understanding the Foundation of Equity Financing
An in-depth exploration of Contributed Capital, including definitions, types, examples, historical context, applicability, and related terms such as Paid-in Capital and Surplus.
Control Account: Overview and Purpose in Accounting
A comprehensive article detailing the concept of Control Accounts in accounting, which provide summaries of totals from subsidiary ledgers, such as accounts payable and accounts receivable.
Controller or Comptroller: Chief Accountant of a Company
An in-depth look at the roles and responsibilities of a Controller or Comptroller, the chief accountant of a company. This entry explores their duties, significance, and differences in smaller vs. larger companies.
Correspondence Audit: Examination of a Tax Return
A correspondence audit is an examination of a tax return conducted largely by telephone or mail, usually involving substantiation or explanation of only a few items.
Cost Accounting: Detailed Insight on Production Costs
A comprehensive look into cost accounting, a branch of accounting focused on providing detailed information on the costs involved in producing a product, essential for inventory valuation.
Cost Method: Accounting for Investments in Subsidiary Companies
Understanding the Cost Method in accounting, where a parent company records its investments in subsidiary companies at cost, not recognizing periodically its share of subsidiary income or loss. This method is used when the parent owns less than 20% of the subsidiary's outstanding voting common stock or in instances of significant influence without effective control.
Cost Records: Definitions and Applications
A comprehensive explanation of cost records, their importance in investment and accounting, and their different types with examples and historical context.
CR: Credit
CR is the common abbreviation for Credit, a key concept in finance and accounting.
Cross-Footing: Validating Spreadsheet Calculations
Cross-Footing is a method used in spreadsheets to ensure the accuracy of numerical data by totaling rows and columns and comparing the sums for agreement.
Cumulative Bulletin: Comprehensive Compilation of IRS Material
The Cumulative Bulletin (CB) is a semiannual hardbound compilation of all content from the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB), providing authoritative guidance on tax issues.
Current Asset: Definition and Overview
Detailed explanation of current assets, including cash, accounts receivable, inventory, and other short-term assets in business.
Current Dollars: Cost of an Asset in Terms of Today's Price Level
Current dollars refer to the measurement of the cost of an asset using today's price level, which reflects inflation adjustments. For instance, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a basis, an asset that cost $20,000 when the CPI base was 100 would cost $36,000 in current dollars if today's CPI is 180.
Current Liability: Definition, Types, Examples, and More
Current liabilities are debts and obligations a company must pay within a year. They include accounts payable, short-term loans, and portions of long-term loans due within the year.
Current Liability: Understanding Short-Term Financial Obligations
Current Liability refers to short-term financial obligations that a company is required to pay within a fiscal year or operating cycle. This detailed entry covers types, examples, accounting treatment, and implications of current liabilities.
Current Ratio: Financial Metric for Liquidity Analysis
The current ratio, also known as the working capital ratio, measures a company's ability to pay its short-term obligations with its short-term assets.
Deadbeat: One Who Does Not Pay His Bills
An in-depth analysis of the term 'Deadbeat,' particularly focusing on its general meaning and specific accounting context.
Debit: Detailed Insights and Examples
An in-depth look at debits in accounting and real estate, their applications, types, examples, and distinctions from credits.
Declaration of Estimated Tax: Essential Guide for Taxpayers
Understanding the Declaration of Estimated Tax, its requirements, applicability, and filing procedures for self-employed individuals and others without sufficient tax withholdings.
Declining-Balance Method: Accelerated Depreciation Technique
The Declining-Balance Method is an accelerated depreciation technique where a percentage rate of depreciation is applied to the undepreciated balance rather than the original cost.
Deferral of Taxes: Postponement of Tax Payments
Detailed explanation of the deferral of taxes, a strategy used to postpone tax payments from the current year to a later year, its benefits, and examples.
Deferred Account: Postponing Taxes Until a Later Date
A Deferred Account allows individuals to postpone taxes on earnings and contributions until a later date, typically during retirement. Examples include Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), Keogh Plans, Profit-Sharing Plans, and SEP-IRAs.
Deferred Charge: Intangible Expenditure Carried Forward as an Asset
A deferred charge represents an intangible expenditure that is carried forward as an asset and amortized over the period it represents. It commonly includes fees such as those for arranging long-term loans.
Delinquent: Payable but Overdue and Unpaid
A comprehensive definition of the term 'delinquent' which refers to payments that are overdue and unpaid, including related legal and financial aspects.
Dependency Exemption: Tax Reduction for Qualifying Dependents
A comprehensive guide to Dependency Exemption, detailing its definition, types, importance, and relation to dependents for tax purposes.
Dependent: Understanding the Concept and Criteria
A comprehensive guide to understanding what constitutes a dependent for tax purposes, including qualifications and exemptions as defined by the Internal Revenue Code.
Depletion: Process and Methods
Depletion is the process whereby the cost or other basis of a natural resource, such as a coal interest, is recovered upon the extraction and sale of the deposit. There are two primary methods for determining the depletion allowance: cost and percentage.
Depreciable Life: Understanding Asset Lifespan and Valuation
A comprehensive guide to understanding depreciable life, including definitions for both tax and appraisal purposes, calculations, examples, and related terms.
Depreciated Cost: Understanding the Adjusted Basis of Fixed Assets
Depreciated Cost, calculated as the original cost of a fixed asset minus accumulated depreciation, represents the adjusted basis of that asset. It is a crucial concept in accounting and finance, affecting tax calculations, financial statements, and investment appraisals.
Depreciation Accounting: Understanding the Deduction for Asset Exhaustion
A comprehensive guide to the concept of depreciation in accounting, focusing on its application for taxpayers and businesses, along with its economic implications.
Depreciation Allowance: Understanding Total Depreciation Deducted Against Property
Explore the concept of depreciation allowance, its implications in business, how it permits annual deductions for wear and tear, and the overall diminution of property value.
Depreciation Recapture: Tax Implications on Gains from Sold Property
Depreciation recapture refers to the process whereby gains from the sale of depreciated property are taxed as ordinary income specifically linked to the depreciation previously deducted.
Depreciation Recapture: Tax Implications and Considerations
Understanding the concept of depreciation recapture, which involves taxing at ordinary rates part of the gain on a sale that represents prior depreciation allowances.
Depreciation Reserve: Comprehensive Overview
An in-depth explanation of Depreciation Reserve, its purpose, calculations, and implications in financial accounting.
Depreciation System: Overview and Types
A comprehensive guide to understanding Depreciation Systems, including different types, methods, and their applications.
Development Stage Enterprise: Initial Phase of Business Ventures
A Development Stage Enterprise focuses on establishing itself through early operations and planning, with minimal to no significant revenue generation.
Direct Cost: An In-Depth Overview
Direct costs are labor and materials that can be identified physically in the product produced. This article explores the definition, examples, historical context, and applicability of direct costs in various industries.
Direct Labor: Key Component of Production Costs
Direct labor refers to the cost of personnel whose work can be directly attributed to the production of specific goods or services, such as the salary of a person operating a production machine.
Direct Material: Cost of Material Identifiable with the Product
A detailed entry on Direct Material, discussing its definition, types, examples, historical context, applicability in various industries, comparisons with indirect materials, and more.
Direct Overhead: Application and Absorption
An in-depth exploration of Direct Overhead and its allocation to manufacturing by applying a standard burden rate. Understand it as an inventory cost reflected in the cost of goods sold.
Disbursement: Paying Out Money in Discharge of Debt or Expense
Disbursement refers to the act of paying out money in the discharge of a debt or an expense, distinguishing it from distribution.
Discretionary Cost: Understanding Managed Costs
A comprehensive guide to understanding discretionary costs, also known as managed costs, and their impact on business management and financial analysis.
Distributive Share: Partnership Income Allocation
Detailed explanation of distributive share in the context of partnerships, including allocation of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit according to the partnership agreement with relevant exceptions.
Divorced Taxpayer: Comprehensive Insight
A detailed exploration of the concept of a divorced taxpayer, including definition, types, tax implications, historical context, examples, FAQs, and related terms.
Double-Entry Accounting: System of Financial Records
A comprehensive overview of Double-Entry Accounting, a bookkeeping system that ensures equal debits and credits for each transaction.
DR (Debit): Definition, Uses, and Examples
Learn what DR (Debit) means in accounting, finance, and banking. Understand different types, special considerations, historical context, and more.
Drawing Account: An Owner's Withdrawal Tracker
The drawing account is used by proprietors or partners to track their withdrawals. It is closed at year-end and the balance is transferred to the owner's equity or profit and loss account.
Dues and Subscriptions: Professional Expenses
An overview of dues and subscriptions as professional expenses, their tax deductibility, AGI floor considerations, and related terms.
Dunning: Request for Payment of Past Due Money
Dunning is the process a business uses to request payment for past due costs or accounts, often employed by suppliers to customers with overdue balances.
Earned Surplus: Retained Earnings
Earned Surplus, commonly referred to as Retained Earnings, represents the cumulative portion of net income that a company retains rather than distributes as dividends to shareholders.
Earnings and Profits: Understanding the Economic Capacity of Corporations
An in-depth look at Earnings and Profits, a tax term central to understanding a corporation's ability to distribute wealth to shareholders. Different from Retained Earnings, it begins with taxable income and closely resembles the economist's approach to income.
Earnings Before Taxes (EBT): Definition and Analysis
Learn about Earnings Before Taxes (EBT), including its definition, formulas, types, examples, historical context, and practical applications in business and finance.
Earnings Per Share (EPS): Understanding Company Profit Allocation per Share
Earnings Per Share (EPS) is a critical financial metric used to evaluate a company's profitability by determining the portion of its profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. This metric is essential for assessing a stock's outlook in the market.
Effective Debt: A Comprehensive Overview
Effective debt encompasses the total debt owed by a firm, including the capitalized value of lease payments. Discover its calculation, implications, and applications in corporate finance.
Effective Tax Rate: A Comprehensive Guide
An in-depth examination of the concept of Effective Tax Rate, how it is calculated, its significance, and its comparison to other tax rates.
Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF): Resolving Accounting Issues
The Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) was founded in 1984 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to identify and resolve emerging accounting issues promptly, fostering standard practices before divergent practices become prevalent.
End of Month: Key Financial and Accounting Period
Understanding the End of Month: An essential financial and accounting period that includes significant activities such as the due date for receivables and closing inventory dates.
Enrolled Actuary: Authorized Pension Plan Professional
An Enrolled Actuary is a professional recognized by the IRS, whose signature is essential for IRS Form 5500 to confirm the tax compliance of a pension plan.
Enrolled Agent: Expert Representation Before the IRS
An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a tax professional who can represent taxpayers before the IRS. EAs must pass a rigorous examination or possess significant IRS service experience.
EOM Dating: Billing Arrangement
EOM Dating is a billing arrangement whereby all purchases made through the 25th of a given month are payable within 30 days of the end of the following month.

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