Verified Document

Working With Financial Statements Term Paper

Working With Financial Statements: There are four main principles that have led to the success of the accounting system which the accountants use in preparing financial report of a company but we shall only focus on two. One of the principles is the Revenue Recognition Principle whereby the accountant is expected to present a financial report by indicating the cash flow of the company. As one of the main accounting principles in the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, revenue recognition can basically be considered as how revenue is recognized or treated. On the basis of cash accounting, revenue is simply recognized when cash is received despite the performance of the services and delivery of goods. On the contrary, revenue is recognized in accrual basis accounting when they are realizable or earned regardless of when cash is received. However, revenue is recognized when two conditions are met i.e. The completion of the earning process and assurance of payment ("Revenue Recognition," n.d.).

The other principle is the Expense Recognition Principle which is also known as the Matching Principle. In this case, the accountant presents...

The expenditure column will show how much money the company has spent and on the reason for the expense. From the two columns, it will be very easy for a company to realize its loss or gain. The matching principle is based on the fact that expenses should be matched against revenues after the revenues are first recognized. This enables an evaluation of the company's performance since the income statement contains measures for revenue or accomplishment and expenses or effort. The expense recognition principle is implemented through one of these three ways i.e. associating cause and effect, systematic and rational allocation, and immediate recognition ("Expense Recognition," 2008).
It is very important for the accountants to create a column for adjusting journal entry at the end each accounting period or at the end of each financial year. These entries may include prepaid expenses, unearned revenues, accrued expenses, and accrued revenues. With the prepaid expenses, these are the expenses paid for and are to be used on a later date such as insurance which is paid on a monthly…

Sources used in this document:
References:

Davoren, J. (n.d.). Four Types of Adjusting Journal Entries. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://www.ehow.com/info_8210116_four-types-adjusting-journal-entries.html

"Expenses Recognition -- The Matching Principle." (2008, July). Accounting Financial & Tax.

Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://accounting-financial-tax.com/2008/07/expense-recognition-the-matching-principle/

"Revenue Recognition." (n.d.). Tenrox. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from http://glossary.tenrox.com/Revenue-Recognition.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Financial Statements Identify the Four Basic Financial
Words: 850 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Financial Statements Identify the four basic financial statements. The four basic financial statements include: the balance sheet, income statement, owners' equity and cash flows. The balance sheet is when there is a focus on the current financial strengths or weaknesses inside a firm. This gives managers, employees, investors and regulators the ability to determine what issues are impacting the company. (Ingram, 2011) ("Four Financial Statements," 2010) The income statement is concentrating on the

Financial Statement of Sainsbury PLC
Words: 2870 Length: 9 Document Type: Essay

Financial statements are produced in order to help stakeholders understand the financial condition of the entity in question. Different types of entities, however, have different reporting requirements. A self-employed individual has very different needs from a limited company, and these are different from not-for-profit organisations as well. This paper will examine some of these differences. The first class of business is the self-employed individual. There are no reporting standards for self-employed

Financial Statement Fraud Report - Enron Financial
Words: 2227 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Financial Statement Fraud Report - Enron Financial Statement Fraud Report: Enron The Enron case made the news when investors and employees realized that the company's accounting practices were not in line with what the company was actually telling them. Eventually, the dishonest accounting practices led to the bankruptcy of the Enron corporation and the dissolution of their accounting firm, Arthur Andersen (Foerstel, 2002). That accounting firm was among the five largest in

Financial Statement Analysis Project
Words: 2528 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Financial Statement Analysis The following is an equity research report on Starbucks. The company competes primarily in the quick service food industry, where it holds the #5 market share in the United States, and #1 in its segment of coffee (QSR Magazine, 2011). The company had revenues last fiscal year (ended 10/2/11) of $11.7 billion and net income of $1.245 billion. The current stock price is $43.91, which gives the company

Financial Statements Part I.A. the
Words: 911 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Proposal

Working capital reduction is not always a bad thing -- tightening receivables and inventory turns is often considered to be good financial policy. In the case of Unilever, it is important to synthesize the two statements. We can see, for example, that "unusual expense" is the category most responsible for the change in working capital. At this point, it would be advisable to delve deeper into the comments in the

Financial Statement Review Costa Company Balance Sheet
Words: 345 Length: 1 Document Type: Essay

Financial Statement Review Costa Company Balance Sheet Assets Cash Accounts Receivable Equipment (net of depreciation) Inventory Total Assets Liabilities Accounts Payable Long-term Debt Total Liabilities Stockholder's Equity Common Stock Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Stockholder's Equity Total Liabilities and Stockholder Equity Costa Company Income Statement Revenue Cost of Goods Sold Gross Profit Expenses Depreciation Expense Insurance Marketing Misc Expense Property Taxes Salaries Utilities Rent Total Expenses Net Income Balance Sheet errors effect the presentation of assets, liabilities, and equity where the Income Statement errors effect the classification of revenues and expenses (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield 2008, p 1174). The physical count of inventory shows the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now