Session 4 Flashcards
Working Capital
Current Assets - Current Liabilities
What does NRV stand for?
Net Realizable Value
Operating Cycle
A/R Collection Period + Inv Holding Period - A/P days held
Footnote one or two
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
What makes something a cash equivalent?
Maturity of 90 days or less, it’s highly liquid meaning it has to have a market for it.
Define Net Realizable Value
Sellers expect that some buyers will not be able to pay their account when they come due and will not be able to collect on all accoundts owed to them.
For A/R, it is the net amount the seller expects to collect.
Aging Analytis
Each customer’s account balance is categorized by number of days or months the invoices have remained outstanding.
Based on prior experience or other available statistics, bad debt percentages are applied to each of these categorized amounts, with larger percentages applied to older accounts.
% of sales approach for Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts
Based from the I/S. Don’t care about the invoice balances. Instead the company estimates a historical rate of uncollectible sales.
Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts
Set aside fund for bad debts
Three ways to determine Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts
Direct W/O (Write Off) - GAAP only ok if materially different
% of sales
% of receivables
% of receivables approach for Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts
From the B/S. Have to consider balance in allowance account.
Where do companies disclose the amount of allowance for uncollectible accounts?
Face of B/S or in the notes.
What is another name for Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts?
Allowance for doubtful accounts
What is the effect of a write-off on net income
No current effect in new period. Net accounts receivable are unchanged. However, the income effect occurred in the pervious period (when the expense was recognized)
What is the effect of a write-off on total assets?
No effect
What is the effect of bad debt recognition on total assets?
Has an effect. Goes down.
What account is sometimes used to shift income from one year to another?
Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts.
How can a company shift income from one year to another?
Overstimate the bad debt expense for current year - expense is increased in the income statement, thus decreasing current period income.
In one or more future periods, when actual write-offs are less than provisioned earlier, it can then decrase the bad debt expense of that period to make up for overestimation from earlier period.
This increases income in one or more subsequent periods.
Cookie Jar Accounting
Company uses generous reserves from good years against losses that might be incurred in bad years
Income smoothing
earlings are understated in good years and overstated in bad years.
Just another flavor of cookie jar accounting
Dynamic Provisioning
Euphemism for cookie jar accounting
Accounting for an allowance workflow
Start with beginning allowance for uncollectible accounts
Add: Bad debt expense/provision for bad debts
Less: write-offs of accounts receivable
Equals: Ending allowance for uncollectible accounts
ART
Accounts Receivable Turnover
Accounts Receivable Turnover equation
Sales / Average A/R (net)
What does Accounts Receivable Turnover reveal?
How many times receivables have been collected for the period.
More turns == A/R being turned quicker, which is better.
Average Collection Period equation
A/R (net) / Average Daily Sales
Approximate Days in Collection Period equation
365 / ART
Name the two lines that A/R is sometimes reported as
Bad debt expense and A/R
If you add the two numbers together you will get the net A/R