What is the Profit and Loss Statement (P&L)? A profit and loss statement (P&L), or income statement or statement of operations, is a financial report that provides a summary of a company’s revenues, expenses, and profits/losses over a given period of time. The P&L statement shows a company’s ability to generate sales, manage expenses, and create…
What is Gross Annual Income? Annual income is the total value of income earned during a fiscal year. Gross annual income refers to all earnings before any deductions are made, and net annual income refers to the amount that remains after all deductions are made. The concept applies to both individuals and businesses in preparing…
What is Straight Line Depreciation? With the straight line depreciation method, the value of an asset is reduced uniformly over each period until it reaches its salvage value. Straight line depreciation is the most commonly used and straightforward depreciation method for allocating the cost of a capital asset. It is calculated by simply dividing the cost of…
What is the Fortune 500? The Fortune 500 is an annual list of the top 500 United States companies by total revenues – public and private included. The Fortune 500 list is compiled and published annually every spring by Fortune Magazine, which is based in New York City. Edgar Smith, a Fortune editor, created the…
What are the Main Types of Depreciation Methods? There are several types of depreciation expense and different formulas for determining the book value of an asset. The most common depreciation methods include: Straight-Line Double Declining Balance Units of Production Sum of Years Digits Depreciation expense is used in accounting to allocate the cost of a…
What is Marginal Cost? Marginal cost represents the incremental costs incurred when producing additional units of a good or service. It is calculated by taking the total change in the cost of producing more goods and dividing that by the change in the number of goods produced. The usual variable costs included in the calculation…
What is a Foreign Exchange Gain/Loss? A foreign exchange gain/loss occurs when a company buys and/or sells goods and services in a foreign currency, and that currency fluctuates relative to their home currency. It can create differences in value in the monetary assets and liabilities, which must be recognized periodically until they are ultimately settled….
What is the Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio? The accounts receivable turnover ratio, also known as the debtor’s turnover ratio, is an efficiency ratio that measures how efficiently a company is collecting revenue – and by extension, how efficiently it is using its assets. The accounts receivable turnover ratio measures the number of times over a…
What are T Accounts? If you want a career in accounting, T Accounts may be your new best friend. The T Account is a visual representation of individual accounts in the form of a “T,” making it so that all additions and subtractions (debits and credits) to the account can be easily tracked and represented…
