C - Acounting Glossary
Accounting definitions.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Cash-basis
accounting
Cash-basis accounting records financial events
based on cash flows. For example, when you pay
your rent your landlord would record an income
event when you make the payment. The landlord
records an expense event when he pays the rental
agent their fee for your apartment. It is the
accounting method used by most individuals, and
by some businesses that have limited payables
or receivables or whose income and expense cash
flows are closely associated with each other in
time.
Cash flow statement
A cash flow statement is a financial report that
shows incoming and outgoing money during a particular
period (often monthly or quarterly). It does not
include non-cash items such as depreciation. This
makes it useful for determining the short-term
viability of a company, particularly its ability
to pay bills.
Certified Public
Accountant
Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are accounting
professionals of the United States who have passed
the Uniform CPA exam, which was developed and
is maintained by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants (AICPA), and have subsequently
met additional state requirements for licensure
as a CPA. Only CPAs are professionally licensed
to provide to the public, attestation (including
auditing) opinions on publicly disseminated financial
statements.
Common stock
Common Stock, also referred to as Common shares,
are, as the name implies, the most usual and commonly
held form of Stock in a corporation. The other
type of shares that the public can hold in a corporation
is known as Preferred Stock. Common stock that
has been re-purchased by the coporation is known
as Treasury stock and is available for a variety
of corporate uses.
Cost accounting
The process of tracking, recording and analyzing
costs associated with the activity of an organization,
where cost is defined as 'required time or resources'.
Costs are by convention measured in units of currency.
Cost of goods sold
In accounting, the cost of goods sold describes
the direct expenses incurred in producing a particular
good for sale, including the actual cost of materials
that comprise the good, and direct labor expense
in putting the good in salable condition. Cost
of goods sold does not include indirect expenses
such as office expenses, accounting, shipping
department, advertising, and other expenses that
can not be attributed to a particular item for
sale.
Creative accounting
Creative accounting refers to accounting practices
that deviate from standard accounting practices.
They are characterized by excessive complication
and the use of novel ways of characterizing income,
assets or liabilities.
Credit
Refers to that part of double entry bookkeeping
that mirrors debits.
Current asset
A current asset is an asset on the balance sheet
usually lasting less than one year such as accounts
receivable, prepaids, cash, etc.
Current liability
current liabilities are considered debts of the
business that are due within the fiscal year.
