|
Plug (accounting)
A plug, also known as reconciling amount, is an unsupported adjustment to an accounting records, accounting record or general ledger. Ideally, bookkeeping should account for all numbers during reconciliation (accounting), reconciliation, i.e. when comparing two sets of accounting records to make sure they are in agreement. However, discrepancies, i.e. unintentional accounting errors can occur, for example due to data entry clerk, data entry, or an adding or a rounding error. An organization may use a plug for an immaterial amount, because it may not be cost effective to search through numerous pages of transactions to find the error. The acceptability of a plug depends upon the amount: a plug must be immaterial in order to be justified. Definition The most basic definition of a plug may be "a placeholder number which is used in an overall cost or budget estimate until a more accurate figure can be obtained". Plugging has been described as "the use of false numbers in financial ledg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accounting Records
Accounting records are key sources of information and evidence used to prepare, verify and/or audit the financial statements. They also include documentation to prove asset ownership for creation of liabilities and proof of monetary and non monetary Financial transaction, transactions. Accounting records can take on many forms and include (among other camps): *Ledgers *General journal, Journals *Bank statements *Contracts and agreements *Verification statements *Transportation receipts *Invoices *Vouchers Accounting documents or document records regroup every document that plays a role in the preparation of financial statement, financial statements for a company, like income statements and balance sheets. They include records of monetary transactions, assets and liabilities, ledgers, journals, etc. Accounting documents and records are the physical objects upon which transactions are entered and summarized. Examples include such items as cancelled checks, paid bills, payrolls, sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ledger
A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which accounting transactions are recorded. Each account has: * an opening or brought-forward balance; *a list of transactions, each recorded as either a debit or credit in separate columns (usually with a counter-entry on another page) *and an ending or closing, or carry-forward, balance. Overview The ledger is a permanent summary of all amounts entered in supporting journals (day books) which list individual transactions by date. Usually every transaction, or a total of a series of transactions, flows from a journal to one or more ledgers. Depending on the company's bookkeeping procedures, all journals may be totaled and the totals posted to the relevant ledger each month. At the end of the accounting period, the company's financial statements are generated from summary totals in the ledgers. Ledgers include: * Sales ledger (debtors ledger): records accounts receivable. This ledger records the financial transactions betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reconciliation (accounting)
In accounting, reconciliation is the process of ensuring that two sets of records (usually the balances of two accounts) are in agreement. It is a general practice for businesses to create their balance sheet at the end of the financial year as it denotes the state of finances for that period. Reconciliation is used to ensure that the money leaving an account matches the actual money spent. This is done by making sure the balances match at the end of a particular accounting period. Definition The following two definitions are given by the Oxford Dictionary of Accounting. i) “A procedure for confirming that the balance in a chequebook matches the corresponding bank statement. This is normally done by preparing a bank reconciliation statement.Owen, G. and Law, J. (2005). A dictionary of accounting. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ii) A procedure for confirming the reliability of a company's accounting records by regularly comparing alances of transactions An account reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Entry Clerk
A data entry clerk, also known as data preparation and control operator, data registration and control operator, and data preparation and registration operator, is a member of staff employed to enter or update data into a computer system. Data is often entered into a computer from paper documents using a keyboard. The keyboards used can often have special keys and multiple colors to help in the task and speed up the work. Proper ergonomics at the workstation is a common topic considered. The data entry clerk may also use a mouse, and a manually-fed scanner may be involved. Speed and accuracy, not necessarily in that order, are the key measures of the job. History The invention of punched card data processing in the 1890s created a demand for many workers, typically women, to run keypunch machines. To ensure accuracy, data was often entered twice; the second time a different keyboarding device, known as a verifier (such as the IBM 056) was used. In the 1970s, punched card da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rounding Error
In computing, a roundoff error, also called rounding error, is the difference between the result produced by a given algorithm using exact arithmetic and the result produced by the same algorithm using finite-precision, rounded arithmetic. Rounding errors are due to inexactness in the representation of real numbers and the arithmetic operations done with them. This is a form of quantization error. When using approximation equations or algorithms, especially when using finitely many digits to represent real numbers (which in theory have infinitely many digits), one of the goals of numerical analysis is to estimate computation errors. Computation errors, also called numerical errors, include both truncation errors and roundoff errors. When a sequence of calculations with an input involving any roundoff error are made, errors may accumulate, sometimes dominating the calculation. In ill-conditioned problems, significant error may accumulate. In short, there are two major facets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was established in London in 1851 by Paul Reuter. The Thomson Corporation of Canada acquired the agency in a 2008 corporate merger, resulting in the formation of the Thomson Reuters Corporation. In December 2024, Reuters was ranked as the 27th most visited news site in the world, with over 105 million monthly readers. History 19th century Paul Julius Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions of 1848. These publications brought much attention to Reuter, who in 1850 developed a prototype news service in Aachen using homing pigeons and electric telegraphy from 1851 on, in order to transmit messages between Brussels and Aachen, in what today is Aa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defense Finance And Accounting Service
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense (DOD), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The DFAS was established in 1991 under the authority, direction, and control of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer to strengthen and reduce costs of financial management and operations within the DOD. The DFAS is responsible for all payments to servicemembers, employees, vendors, and contractors. It provides business intelligence and finance and accounting information to DOD decisionmakers. The DFAS is also responsible for preparing annual financial statements and the consolidation, standardization, and modernization of finance and accounting requirements, functions, processes, operations, and systems for the DOD. One of the most visible responsibilities of the DFAS is handling military pay. The DFAS pays all DoD military and civilian personnel, retirees and annuitants, as well as major DoD cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Accounting Office
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following: *the speaker of the United States House of Representatives *the president pro tempore of the United States Senate *the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creative Accounting
Creative accounting is a euphemism referring to accounting practices that may follow the letter of the rules of standard accounting practices, but deviate from the spirit of those rules with questionable accounting ethics—specifically distorting results in favor of the "preparers", or the firm that hired the accountant. They are characterized by excessive complication and the use of novel ways of characterizing income, assets, or liabilities, and the intent to influence readers towards the interpretations desired by the authors. The terms "innovative" or "aggressive" are also sometimes used. Another common synonym is "cooking the books". Creative accounting is oftentimes used in tandem with outright financial fraud (including securities fraud), and lines between the two are blurred. Creative accounting practices have been known since ancient times and appear world-wide in various forms. The term as generally understood refers to systematic misrepresentation of the true incom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Accounting Practice
Publicly traded companies typically are subject to rigorous standards. Small and midsized businesses often follow more simplified standards, plus any specific disclosures required by their specific lenders and shareholders. Some firms operate on the cash method of accounting which can often be simple and straightforward. Larger firms most often operate on an accrual basis. Accrual basis is one of the fundamental accounting assumptions, and if it is followed by the company while preparing the financial statements, then no further disclosure is required. Accounting standards prescribe in considerable detail what accruals must be made, how the financial statements are to be presented, and what additional disclosures are required. The term ''generally accepted accounting principles'' (GAAP) was popularized in the late 1930s. Some important elements that accounting standards cover include identifying the exact entity which is reporting, discussing any "going concern" questions, specify ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fudge Factor
A fudge factor is an ad hoc quantity or element introduced into a calculation, formula or model in order to make it fit observations or expectations. Also known as a correction coefficient, which is defined by : \kappa_\text = \frac Examples include Einstein's cosmological constant, dark energy, the initial proposals of dark matter and inflation. Examples in science Some quantities in scientific theory are set arbitrarily according to measured results rather than by calculation (for example, the Planck constant). However, in the case of these fundamental constants, their arbitrariness is usually explicit. To suggest that other calculations may include a "fudge factor" may suggest that the calculation has been somehow tampered with to make results give a misleadingly good match to experimental data. Cosmological constant In theoretical physics, when Albert Einstein originally tried to produce a general theory of relativity, he found that the theory seemed to predict the gravi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accounting In The United States
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting 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 interchangeably. 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. Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management to enhance busines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
