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Earnings Management
Earnings management, in accounting, is the act of intentionally influencing the process of financial reporting to obtain some private gain.Schipper, Katherine. 1989. “Commentary on Earnings Management.” ''Accounting Horizons'' (December): 91–102. Earnings management involves the alteration of financial reports to mislead Stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders about the organization's underlying performance, or to "influence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers."Healy, Paul M., and James Wong. Wahlen. 1999. “A Review of the Earnings Management Literature and Its Implications for Standard Setting.” ''Accounting Horizons'' 13 (4): 365–383. Earnings management has a negative effect on earnings quality, and may weaken the credibility of financial reporting. Furthermore, in a 1998 speech Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt called earnings management "widespread". Despite its pervasiveness, the complexity of accounting rules can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language of business", measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used as synonyms. Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting. Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers; and management accounting focuses on the measurement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The debt may be owed by sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Commercial debt is generally subject to contractual terms regarding the amount and timing of repayments of principal and interest. Loans, bonds, notes, and mortgages are all types of debt. In financial accounting, debt is a type of financial transaction, as distinct from equity. The term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on a monetary value. For example, in Western cultures, a person who has been helped by a second person is sometimes said to owe a "debt of gratitude" to the second person. Etymology The English term "debt" was first used in the late 13th century. The term "debt" comes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accounting Research
Accounting research examines how accounting is used by individuals, organizations and government as well as the consequences that these practices have. Starting from the assumption that accounting both measures and makes visible certain economic events, accounting research has studied the roles of accounting in organizations and society and the consequences that these practices have for individuals, organizations, governments and capital markets. It encompasses a broad range of topics including financial accounting research, management accounting research, auditing research, capital market research, accountability research, social responsibility research and taxation research.Oler, Derek K., Mitchell J. Oler, and Christopher J. Skousen. 2010. "Characterizing Accounting Research." ''Accounting Horizons'' 24 (4): 635–670. Academic accounting research "addresses all aspects of the accounting profession" using the scientific method, while research by practicing accountants focuses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Management Accounting
In management accounting or managerial accounting, managers use accounting information in decision-making and to assist in the management and performance of their control functions. Definition One simple definition of management accounting is the provision of financial and non-financial decision-making information to managers. In other words, management accounting helps the directors inside an organization to make decisions. This can also be known as Cost Accounting. This is the way toward distinguishing, examining, deciphering and imparting data to supervisors to help accomplish business goals. The information gathered includes all fields of accounting that educates the administration regarding business tasks identifying with the financial expenses and decisions made by the organization. Accountants use plans to measure the overall strategy of operations within the organization. According to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), "Management accounting is a profession t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earnings Call
An earnings call is a teleconference, or webcast, in which a public company discusses the financial results of a reporting period ("earnings guidance"). The name comes from earnings per share (EPS), the bottom line number in the income statement divided by the number of shares outstanding. The US-based National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) says that 92% of companies represented by their members conduct earnings calls and that virtually all of these are webcast. Transcripts of calls may be made available either by the company or a third party. The calls are usually preceded or accompanied by a press release containing a summary of the financial results, and possibly by a more detailed filing under securities law. Earnings calls usually happen, or at least begin, while the stock market on which the company's shares are traded is closed to trading, so that all investors will have had a chance to hear management's presentation before trading in the stock resumes. Generally, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accruals
Accrual (''accumulation'') of something is, in finance, the adding together of interest or different investments over a period of time. Accruals in accounting For example, a company delivers a product to a customer who will pay for it 30 days later in the next fiscal year, which starts a week after the delivery. The company recognizes the proceeds as a revenue in its current income statement still for the fiscal year of the delivery, even though it will not get paid until the following accounting period. The proceeds are also an accrued income (asset) on the balance sheet for the delivery fiscal year, but not for the next fiscal year when cash is received. Similarly, the salesperson who sold the product earned a commission at the moment of sale (or delivery). The company will recognize the commission as an expense in its current income statement, even though the salesperson will actually get paid at the end of the following week in the next accounting period. The commission is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inventories
Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the shape and placement of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The concept of inventory, stock or work in process (or work in progress) has been extended from manufacturing systems to service businesses and projects, by generalizing the definition to be "all work within the process of production—all work that is or has occurred prior to the completion of production". In the context of a manufacturing production system, inventory refers to all work that has occurred—raw materials, partially finished products, finished products prior to sale and departure from the manufacturing system. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FIFO And LIFO Accounting
FIFO and LIFO accounting are methods used in managing inventory and financial matters involving the amount of money a company has to have tied up within inventory of produced goods, raw materials, parts, components, or feedstocks. They are used to manage assumptions of costs related to inventory, stock repurchases (if purchased at different prices), and various other accounting purposes. The following equation is useful when determining inventory costing methods: : \text + \text = : \text + \text FIFO "FIFO" stands for ''first-in, first-out'', meaning that the oldest inventory items are recorded as sold first (but this does not necessarily mean that the exact oldest physical object has been tracked and sold). In other words, the cost associated with the inventory that was purchased first is the cost expensed first. A company might use the LIFO method for accounting purposes, even if it uses FIFO for inventory management purposes (i.e., for the actual storage, shelving, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Net Income
In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and taxes for an accounting period. It is computed as the residual of all revenues and gains less all expenses and losses for the period,Stickney, et al. (2009) Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Uses. Cengage Learning and has also been defined as the net increase in shareholders' equity that results from a company's operations.Needles, et al. (2010) Financial Accounting. Cengage Learning. It is different from gross income, which only deducts the cost of goods sold from revenue. For households and individuals, net income refers to the (gross) income minus taxes and other deductions (e.g. mandatory pension contributions). Definition Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bad Debt
Bad debt, occasionally called uncollectible accounts expense, is a monetary amount owed to a creditor that is unlikely to be paid and for which the creditor is not willing to take action to collect for various reasons, often due to the debtor not having the money to pay, for example due to a company going into liquidation or insolvency. There are various technical definitions of what constitutes a bad debt, depending on accounting conventions, regulatory treatment and the institution provisioning. In the USA, bank loans with more than ninety days' arrears become "problem loans". Accounting sources advise that the full amount of a bad debt be written off to the profit and loss account or a provision for bad debts as soon as it is foreseen. Doubtful debt Doubtful debts are those debts which a business or individual is unlikely to be able to collect. The reasons for potential non-payment can include disputes oversupply, delivery, the condition of the item, or the appearance of fina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Statements
Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand. They typically include four basic financial statements accompanied by a management discussion and analysis: # A balance sheet or statement of financial position, reports on a company's assets, liabilities, and owners equity at a given point in time. # An income statement—or profit and loss report (P&L report), or statement of comprehensive income, or statement of revenue & expense—reports on a company's income, expenses, and profits over a stated period. A profit and loss statement provides information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sales and the various expenses incurred during the stated period. # A statement of changes in equity or statement of equity, or statement of retained earnings, reports on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Ratio
A financial ratio or accounting ratio is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements. Often used in accounting, there are many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization. Financial ratios may be used by managers within a firm, by current and potential shareholders (owners) of a firm, and by a firm's creditors. Financial analysts use financial ratios to compare the strengths and weaknesses in various companies. If shares in a company are traded in a financial market, the market price of the shares is used in certain financial ratios. Ratios can be expressed as a Decimal separator, decimal value, such as 0.10, or given as an equivalent percent value, such as 10%. Some ratios are usually quoted as percentages, especially ratios that are usually or always less than 1, such as earnings yield, while others are usually quoted as decimal numbers, especially ratios ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
