Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Finance/Accounting Key Points

Some key points of Accouting with definitions

A set of concepts and techniques that are used to measure and report financial information about an economic unit
A financial relationship at the heart of the accounting model: Assets = Liabilities + Owners' Equity
The economic resources owned by an entity; entailing probable future benefits to the entity
The examination of transactions and systems that underlie an organization's financial statements with the goal or reporting thereon
A financial statement that presents a firm's assets, liabilities, and owners' equity at a particular point in time
An individual who is licensed by a state to practice public accounting
A form of business organization where ownership is represented by divisible units called shares of stock
Amounts paid from profits of a corporation to shareholders as a return on their investment in the stock of the entity
The costs incurred in producing revenues
An area of accounting that deals with external reporting to parties outside the firm; usually based on standardized rules an procedures
An organization charged with producing standards for financial reporting in the USA (FASB)
Core financial reports that are prepared to represent the financial position and results of operations of a company
The concept that many transactions and events are to be measured and reported at acquisition cost
A financial statement that summarizes the revenues, expenses, and results of operations for a specified period of time
A person within an organization who reviews and monitors the controls, procedures, and information of the organization
Amounts owed by an entity to others
An area of accounting concerned with reporting results to managers and others who are internal to an organization
The excess of revenues over expenses for a designated period of time
The excess of expenses over revenues for a designated period of time
Resources provided to an organization by a person in exchange for a position of ownership in the organization
The residual of assets minus liabilities, representing the collective interest or position of the entity's owners
A non-corporation representing an association of two or more persons organized to carry out a business plan for a profit motive
Accounting activities provided by a person to the general public, typically relating to audit, tax and similar services
The excess of a corporation's income over its dividends
A record that is kept for each asset, liability, equity, revenue, expense, and dividend component of an entity
A listing of the accounts of an entity, along with any identification coding
The total of all subcomponent account records for an account; e.g., the sum of all individual accounts receivable
The nature of an action to an account to indicate an increase (liabilities, equity, and revenue) or decrease (assets, expenses, and dividends); usually right-justified in an entry
The nature of an action to an account to indicate an increase (assets, expenses, and dividends) or decrease (liabilities, equity, and revenue); usually left-justified in an entry
A record of the accounts comprising financial statements, and their respective balances
A chronological listing of the transactions and events of an organization, in debit/credit format
The process of recording transactions and events into the journal
The process of transferring journal entry effects into the respective general ledger accounts
A document evidencing a transaction or event and potentially providing for the initiation of a journal entry
A subcomponent account record providing individual balance details; e.g., the record for one customer out of a group of customers comprising all accounts receivable
An abstract representation of an account, with the left side of the "T" representing debits and the right side credits
A listing of account balances from the ledger, used to test the equality of debits and credits
Expenses and revenues that gradually accumulate throughout an accounting period
The accounting process whereby revenues are measured and recorded as earned, while expenses are recorded as incurred
Unpaid expenses that have already been incurred
Revenues that have been earned and recorded, but are not as yet collected
A trial balance prepared after adjusting entries have been prepared and posted to the ledger
To analyze account balances and update them at the end of an accounting period to reflect the correct measure of revenues and expenses
Cost minus accumulated depreciation; the net amount at which an asset is reported on the balance sheet
An accounting approach where revenue is recorded when cash is received (no matter when "earned"), and expenses are recognized when paid (no matter when "incurred")
An account that is subtracted from a related account -- contra accounts have opposite debit/credit rules
The process used to allocate the cost of a long-lived property to the accounting periods benefited
A one-year accounting period that does not correspond to a calendar year
To associate expenses with revenues, and record them in simultaneous accounting periods
Like the cash basis, except that certain large expenditures for durable assets may be recorded as assets initially
Applicable to certain businesses that have a seasonal business pattern, and an attempt is made to establish an accounting fiscal year to match
An accounting assumption that purports to divide a continuous business process into measurement intervals, such as months, quarters, and years
Goods or services purchased in advance of their consumption
The point at which revenue is recognized in the accounting records; ordinarily the point of sale
Revenue that has been collected in advance of providing goods and services to "earn it;" reported as a liability until earned
The procedures needed to process transactions through an accounting system; including journalization, posting, adjusting, and preparing financial statements
A non-specific reference to the ownership interests of shareholders in a corporation
The process by which temporary accounts are "zeroed" out and the effects transferred to retained earnings
Assets that will be converted into cash or consumed within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer
Obligations that will be liquidated within one year or the operating cycle, whichever is longer
A measure of liquidity, calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities
All relevant facts that would influence investors' and creditors' judgments about the company are disclosed in the financial statements or related notes
A non-financial statement account used only to facilitate the closing process by summarizing and zeroing-out the revenue and expense accounts
Lack physical existence, and include items like purchased patents and copyrights
The ability of a firm to meet its near-term obligations as they come due
Investments made for long-term holding purposes; including land for speculation, securities of other companies, etc.
Any obligation that is not current, and include bank loans, mortgage notes, and the like


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