What is Contribution Margin? Contribution margin is a business’s sales revenue less its variable costs. The resulting contribution dollars can be used to cover fixed costs (such as rent), and once those are covered, any excess is considered earnings. Contribution margin (presented as a % or in absolute dollars) can be presented as the total…
What is Contributed Surplus? Contributed surplus is an account in the shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet that reflects excess amounts collected from the issuance of shares above their par value. The account also holds gains and losses from the issuance, repurchase, and cancellation of shares, as well as gains and losses from the…
What is the Cash Conversion Cycle? The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is a metric that shows the amount of time it takes a company to convert its investments in inventory to cash. The conversion cycle formula measures the amount of time, in days, it takes for a company to turn its resource inputs into cash….
What are Cash Equivalents? Let’s begin by defining cash itself: cash includes legal tender, bills, coins, checks received but not deposited, and checking and savings accounts. Cash equivalents are low-risk, short-term investment securities with maturity periods of 90 days (three months) or less. These include bank certificates of deposit, banker’s acceptances, Treasury bills, commercial paper,…
What is Accounts Receivable (AR)? Accounts Receivable (AR) represents the credit sales of a business, which have not yet been collected from its customers. Companies allow their clients to pay for goods and services over a reasonable extended period of time, provided that the terms have been agreed upon. For certain transactions, a customer may…
What are Available for Sale Securities? Available for sale securities are the default categorization of securities that companies decide to invest in for the purposes of benefiting their financial position. Unlike trading securities, available for sale securities are not bought or sold for the sole purpose of realizing a short-term capital gain. They may be…
What is Sum of Years Depreciation (SYD)? Sum of Years Depreciation (SYD) is a method of accelerated depreciation. Similar to the double declining balance method, sum of years depreciation aims to depreciate a company’s assets at an accelerated rate. Companies may choose the SYD method as the practice will result in a larger depreciation tax…
What are Trading Securities? Trading securities are securities purchased by a company for the purpose of realizing a short-term profit. Companies do not intend to hold such securities for a long period of time; thus, they will only invest if they believe they have a good chance of being compensated for the risk they are…
What is a Trial Balance? A trial balance is a report that lists the balances of all general ledger accounts of a company at a certain point in time. The accounts reflected on a trial balance are related to all major accounting items, including assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses, gains, and losses. It is primarily…
What is a General Ledger (GL)? In accounting, a General Ledger (GL) is a record of all past transactions of a company, organized by accounts. General Ledger (GL) accounts contain all debit and credit transactions affecting them. In addition, they include detailed information about each transaction, such as the date, description, amount, and may also…
