D196 Flashcards
Accounting
quantitative information, primarily financial in nature, about economic entities that is intended to be useful in making economic decision
4 key components of accounting
1) Quantitative - relates to numbers
2) Financial - Accounting focuses on just the financial dimension.
3) Useful -accounting exists only because it is useful.
4) Decisions - it impacts decisions about the future.
Decision making process
1) Identify issue
2) Gather information
3) Identify alternatives
4) Select best option
What do accountants do in a business?
1) measure and report
2) Advise
2 primary areas of accounting
1) Managerial Accounting - Gathering and analysis of INTERNAL decision making
2) Financial Accounting - Used EXTERNALLY such as investors and creditors
Internal reports
used by those who direct the day-to-day operations of a business enterprise.
Management accounting
focuses on the information needed for planning, implementing plans, and controlling costs
Financial accounting summarized into 3 financial statements
1) Balance sheet
2) income statement
3) statement of cash flows
Balance sheet
A summary of the financial position of a company at a particular date.
Income statement
Reports the amount of net income earned by a company during a period.
The statement of cash flows
Reports the amount of cash collected and paid out by a company in the following three types of activities: operating, investing, and financing.
Key External users
Lenders
Investors
FASB
Financial Accounting Standards Board
Maintains its influence as the accounting standard setter for the United States.
Private group
GAAP
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Authoritative guidlines that define accounting practice at a particular time in the united states
SEC
Securities and Exchange commission
regulate U.S. stock exchanges.
CPA
Certified Public Accountant
CPA label guarantees that the person has received substantial accounting training and achieved a certain level of competence in accounting.
A CPA firm is a company that performs accounting services, just as a law firm performs legal services.
IRS
Internal Revenue Service
IASB
International Accounting Standards Board
develop international accounting standards
GASB
Government Accounting Standards Board
sets the accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments following GAAP.
What are the role of ethics in accounting?
Accountants have a moral and an economic incentive to be ethical and to conduct themselves ethically. Their product is information, and the value of that information is related to the confidence that users have in its relevance and reliability.
purpose of the accounting cycle
to help you see how the accounting process (including the recording) turns transactions into financial statements. Begin with business transactions, which are then analyzed and input into the financial accounting system.
Steps of the accounting cycle
1) Analyze Transactions
2) Record the effects of transactions
3) Summarize effects (preparing journal entries, preparing trial balance)
4) prepare reports
Accounting equation
Assets = Liabilities + Owners Equity
Owners Equity
A method of financing resources that does not require repayment and represents ownership interests in the business
Liabilities
A method of financing resources that requires repayment
account
a specific accounting record that provides an efficient way to categorize similar types of transactions. Thus, we may designate in the accounting records accounts for assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity.
The 3 primary financial statements
1) Balance Sheet
2) Income Statement
3) Statement of Cash flows
What is the balance sheet
- Resources and claims on those resources at a specific point in time
- What we own or control (Assets)
- What we owe (Liabilities)
- Owners share (Equity)
What is an income statement
- One measure of a company’s performance
- Measure of a company’s economic performance for a specific period of time
Statement of Cash flows
measures how cash changed from beginning to end of the period
what is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. government agency charged with regulating financial markets and ensuring the availability of reliable financial information
Which resource or tool is used to identify unique companies in the SEC’s 10-K filing database?
Central Index Key (CIK)
Assets
Assets are economic resources that are owned or controlled by a company.
Owners equity equation
Equity = Assets - Liability
the amount leftover after liabilities have been paid off
Income statement equation
Revenues - expenses = net income
Revenue
amount of assests created from the sale of goods or services
expenses
amount of assets consumed through business operations.
Net Income
sometimes called earnings or profit, is an overall measure of a company’s performance. Net income reflects the company’s accomplishments (revenues) in relation to its efforts (expenses) during a particular period of time:
What is a gain?
Making money from an activity outside the normal activities of a business
what does the statment of retained earnings portray?
A statement of retained earnings portrays the accumulated profits or losses of a company at a point in time.
3 categories of cash flow
1) Operating activities
2) Investing activities
3) Financing activities
what are operating activities?
activities that are part of the day-to-day business of a company.
what are investing activies?
activities associated with buying and selling long-term assets—primarily the purchase and sale of land, buildings, and equipment.
what are financing activities?
activities whereby cash is obtained from or repaid to owners and creditors. For example, cash received from owners’ investments, cash proceeds from a loan, or cash payments to repay loans would all be financing activities.
four categories of financial statements
1) Summary of significant accounting policies
2) Additional information about the summary totals found in the financial statements
3) Disclosure of important information that is not recognized in the financial statements
4) Supplementary information
What is the purpose of a classified balance sheet?
A classified balance sheet distinguishes between current and long-term assets.
gross profit calculation
Sales − cost of goods sold
operating income calculation
Sales − cost of goods sold − operating expenses
What is the definition of financial statement analysis
Examining both the relationships among financial statement numbers and the trends in those numbers over time
How is a common-size income statement created?
By dividing all income statement amounts for a given year by sales for that year
What is the purpose of performing horizontal analysis of financial statements?
To highlight trends that may be occurring in the company over time
Cash Budget
- A short term schedule of expected cash inflows and outflows during a period of time
- First step in developing a cash budget.
- Allows you to anticipate financial needs.